NATO Warns Putin Against Any “Silly Move”

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said during a visit to Washington that allies will announce tens of billions of dollars in defense-related deals at their July summit in Ankara.

The meeting of the 32-member alliance is intended to send a clear signal to Russian President Vladimir Putin that NATO is ready to respond to any “silly move against us”.

In comments addressed directly to Putin, Rutte said he “is not afraid of commitments, he is afraid of (us) implementing commitments, and that’s exactly what we are doing, Vladimir. We will defend ourselves”.

Rutte made the remarks at the Atlantic Council on the final day of his visit to Washington, ahead of the 7–8 July summit.

He said the summit would show that allies are on a “trajectory” to meet the defense spending goal agreed last year of 5% of gross domestic product by 2035.

Rutte said Europe must overcome its “fragmented national defense industries”, while Washington must reduce bureaucracy and support innovation.

The result, he added, would not only be stronger security but also the start of a “defense industrial revolution” that would help economies grow and support hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will attend the summit in person. NATO is expected to reaffirm its support for Kyiv in its more than four-year-old war against Russian occupation forces.

(Reuters, Max)