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Rutte: ‘If Putin attacks NATO, the response will be devastating’

Alliance secretary general emphasises the need to increase military spending and assures: ‘We must be more lethal to ensure deterrence’

‘If Vladimir Putin attacked Nato, the reaction would be devastating. He would lose. And he knows it.’ So said Alliance Secretary General Mark Rutte at a press conference in Brussels on the eve of the Defence Ministerial. Rutte reiterated that the Alliance’s deterrence is solid today, but that in the coming years it will be necessary to increase military spending to maintain the strategic advantage over Russia and China.

According to the former Dutch prime minister, the next target for defence spending will be more than three per cent of GDP, with a precise figure yet to be determined. ‘We have to do more so that the burden is shared equally among the allies,’ he explained, emphasising that the current threshold of 2% is no longer enough.

Rutte agreed with the new Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth, on the need to make NATO ‘more lethal’, because only a militarily credible alliance can guarantee deterrence.

On the conflict in Ukraine, Rutte warned that any peace negotiations must lead to a ‘durable’ solution, avoiding a new failure like the 2014 Minsk agreements. ‘The stronger Ukraine is on the battlefield, the stronger it will be at the negotiating table,’ he said, reiterating the commitment of the allies who have already pledged more than €50 billion in aid, with Europe contributing more than half.

Finally, the Secretary General emphasised that these efforts also respond to the demands of President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly called for a greater European contribution to support Kiev.

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