ReutersNATO's Secretary General said it was time to “switch to a wartime mentality” as he warned that members of the military alliance were not prepared to face the risk of a future conflict with Russia.
Secretary-General Mark Rutte said that Moscow is “preparing for a long-term confrontation” with the West, describing the current security situation as “the worst” in his life.
“We are not prepared for what will come our way in four to five years,” he said in his first major speech since becoming UN secretary-general in October, urging members to “stimulate” their defense spending.
His statements come weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office Previously suggested The United States will not protect its NATO allies who fail to spend enough on defense.
NATO members pledged to spend at least 2% of the value of their economies – measured by gross domestic product – on defense annually by 2024.
But the former Dutch Prime Minister said during an event in Brussels that “more” was needed as the danger moved towards us at full speed.
He said European members spent more than 3% of GDP on defense during the Cold War.
He added: “If we do not spend more together now to prevent war, we will pay a much, much higher price later for fighting it.”
He added that the Russian economy was “at war”, with its defense spending expected to reach “a third of the Russian state budget – the highest level since the Cold War” by 2025.
Although the average defense spending of NATO members in Europe and Canada is estimated at 2%, not everyone achieves this goal.
Trump said in February that he would do so “Encouraging” Russia to attack any NATO member who fails to pay its bills As part of the Western military alliance.
NATO's 32 members in Europe and North America agree that if one member is attacked, the other members must help defend it.
NATO members also pledged that by 2024 at least 20% of their defense expenditures should go to acquiring and developing military equipment.
But Rutte warned that Russia and China were “racing ahead” and said increasing defense production was a “top priority.”
He warned that Europe's defense industry was “too small, too fragmented and too slow.”
Meanwhile, Russian arms factories produce military equipment around the clock.
Talk in A decisive turning point in the war in Ukraine Where Moscow seized lands in the east and in the Russian Kursk region.
“What happens in Ukraine could also happen here,” Rutte warned.
“We are not at war. But we are certainly not at peace either.”
