NATO chief backs US, urges Europe to intensify pressure on Russia

NATO’s 14th secretary general, Mark Rutte, supported the U.S. position that EU countries must spend more money on defense while calling for greater European pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine.

“This is not a conflict between Russia and Ukraine or Russia and Europe. It’s a geopolitical issue because of North Korea, China, [and] Iran,” Rutte said in an interview with Bloomberg.

He stressed that Russia’s aggression must end with a “good deal,” and that “means “you will not have Putin high-fiving with Kim Jong Un and Xi Jinping and the mullahs in Iran.”

Rutte also emphasized the urgent need for the European Union to increase its defense spending.

“We can’t wait any longer,” he said. “Collectively we will decide later this year what exactly the new number will be, and it will be much more than 2 percent [of GDP].”

The NATO chief praised U.S. President Donald Trump’s previous proposal for stricter economic sanctions on Russia, calling it a “correct strategy” and “the way forward.”

Earlier, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas also acknowledged the issue, agreeing with Trump’s criticism that the European Union has underinvested in defense.