NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said in comments delivered alongside Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk that there would be a ‘devastating’ response if Russia were to attack on Poland or another member state
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has warned Vladimir Putin there will be a “devastating” response if Russia were to launch an attack on Poland or another member state.
“If anyone were to miscalculate and think they can get away with an attack on Poland or on any other ally, they will be met with the full force of this fierce alliance. Our reaction will be devastating”. he said in Warsaw today. “This has to be very clear to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and anyone else who wants to attack us.” The stark warning comes as NATO nations bordering Russia, particularly Poland and the Baltic states, voiced fears that US-Russia talks on ending the war in Ukraine would grant Putin a favourable settlement – allowing him to rebuild Russia’s military forces.
Russia launched a ‘full scale invasion’ of Ukraine February 24 2022, sparking an international crisis and threatening to capture Kyiv in the opening days of the war before Ukraine, with strong backing from European allies and the US under Joe Biden, mounted a counter offensive and eventually claimed Russian territory around Kursk.
In recent days, with EU nations alongside the UK also working to bring about a diplomatic solution, hopes have begun to rise that an end to the conflict might be in sight. Whether or not such a turn of events would be a good thing for European stability in the long run remains to be seen.
Speaking with Rutte at the White House earlier this month, Donald Trump said he did not think a peace settlement for Ukraine would spark Russian attacks on other countries. Rutte however warned Putin was capable of unleashing an attack on European soil by the end of the decade. He said: “Let’s not forget that Russia is and is remaining the most significant and dark threat to our alliance. Let’s not forget that Russia is moving into a wartime economy, and that will have a huge impact on their capacity and capability to build their armed forces.”
Fears amongst NATO nations have only been exacerbated by Trump threatening to tear up 80 years of security guarantees over the course of Russia’s war on Ukraine – with several European leaders vowing to rearm the continent. Sweden is among the countries boosting their defence spending.
The Nordic country is set to increase spending by around 300 billion kroner ($30 billion) over the next decade, with prime minister Ulf Kristersson calling the move the “biggest rearmament push since the Cold War”.
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Just days prior, Germany, a traditionally debt-shy country, approved a historic bill to allow for a huge increase in defence and infrastructure spending. The law creates a €500 billion infrastructure fund ($547bn; £420bn) to eases strict borrowing rules that came into force after the 2008 global financial crisis.
German lawmakers said the main drivers behind the move was Russian aggression and doubts over the US’ commitment to European security. “The threat from the East, from Moscow, is still present, while the support from the West is no longer what we were once accustomed to”, said Bavarian Premier Markus Soeder. “I am a convinced transatlanticist, but the relationship of trust in the United States of America has, at least for me and for many others, been deeply shaken. The Germans are worried.”