BRUSSELS (AP) \u2014 NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to \u201cwipe Ukraine off the map\u201d and could come after other parts of Europe next, as he urged Europeans to press their governments to ramp up defense spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is time to shift to a wartime mindset,\u201d Rutte told security experts and analysts at the Carnegie Europe think-tank in Brussels. He said people should gird themselves for the prospect that Russia might try to use \u201cswarms of drones\u201d in Europe as it has to deadly effect in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Putin \u201cis trying to crush our freedom and way of life,\u201d Rutte said. The former Dutch prime minister listed Russia\u2019s attacks on Georgia in 2008, the annexation of Ukraine\u2019s Crimean Peninsula in 2014, and the all-out invasion launched almost three years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow many more wake-up calls do we need? We should be profoundly concerned. I know I am,\u201d he said. \u201cRussia is preparing for long-term confrontation. With Ukraine, and with us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rutte\u2019s inaugural speech came just over two months after he took office as NATO\u2019s top civilian official. He has since toured the capitals of the 32 allies, including a visit with President-elect Donald Trump in the United States, NATO\u2019s most powerful ally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NATO has been a staunch backer of Ukraine and has helped most of its members funnel weapons, ammunition and other support into the country. But Trump\u2019s return, and pledge to end the war quickly, has fueled concern that an unfavorable truce might be forced on Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump routinely complains that U.S. allies in NATO are not spending enough on defense. Rutte said Russia\u2019s military spending is likely to amount to 7 to 8% of its GDP next year -\u2013 far more than any NATO ally \u2013- while its defense industry churns out tanks, armored vehicles and ammunition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Putin also has the support of allies like China, Iran and North Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rutte noted that defense spending has risen sharply in Europe, with 23 allies expected to reach NATO\u2019s target of putting 2% of GDP into their military budgets. But he added: \u201cI can tell you, we are going to need a lot more than 2%.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rutte listed a series of recent \u201chostile actions\u201d by Russia against NATO allies, including cyber-attacks, assassinations, an explosion at a Czech ammunition depot, the jamming of radars in the Baltic region to disrupt air traffic, and the \u201cweaponization\u201d of migrants to destabilize Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese attacks are not just isolated incidents. They are the result of a coordinated campaign to destabilize our societies and discourage us from supporting Ukraine,\u201d he said. \u201cThey circumvent our deterrence and bring the front line to our front doors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beyond increased defense spending in Europe, Rutte noted that NATO now has tens of thousands of troops on high readiness should they been needed to defend allied territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWith all this, our deterrence is good -\u2013 for now. But it\u2019s tomorrow I\u2019m worried about,\u201d he said, and warned that \u201cwe are not ready for what is coming our way in four to five years. Danger is moving towards us at full speed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat is happening in Ukraine could happen here too, and regardless of the outcome of this war, we will not be safe in the future unless we are prepared to deal with danger,\u201d Rutte added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rutte appealed to governments provide the defense industry with \u201cthe big orders and long-term contracts they need to rapidly produce more and better capabilities.\u201d He urged industry to boost production for defenses against drones and other new war tactics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that \u201cfreedom does not come for free\u201d to the estimated 1 billion people living in the Euro-Atlantic area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf we don\u2019t spend more together now to prevent war, we will pay a much, much, much higher price later to fight it. Not billions, but trillions of euros. That\u2019s if we come out on top, and that\u2019s if we win,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cIt is time to shift to a wartime mindset,\u201d Mark Rutte told security experts and analysts at the Carnegie Europe think-tank in Brussels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":119139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":46,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[160,46,11,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1753],"class_list":["post-68495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-europe","category-global","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"4OHQN7FKOREUVIX22UMEXIYOQA","arc_canonical_url":"\/global\/europe\/2024\/12\/12\/nato-chief-warns-that-putin-wants-long-term-confrontation-with-europe\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n