Chief NATO: Russia's victory in Ukraine to undermine alliance power

Secretary - General NATO, Mark Rutte, warned today that a Russian victory in Ukraine would undermine the prevention power of the largest military alliance in the world and that trillions of dollars would be needed to restore credibility to its sustainability.

He made these comments at the World Economic Forum under way in Davos, Switzerland. The alliance, as he said, should commit to changing the “war contractor” to Ukraine.

NATO is strengthening its eastern border with Russia, Ukraine and Belarus in an effort to prevent Moscow from expanding its fight in one of the 32 member states of the alliance, and its secretary general demanded that member states increase their defence contributions.

We need to change the reaction of the war, which is continuing and so far, as you know, the front line is going in the wrong direction. This is happening because of Russian aggression in Ukraine. In the 21st century, we cannot allow a country to invade another country and try to colonize it. Those days are past, past”, Secretary Rutte said.

He made these statements within the works of the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he insisted that Ukraine's Western allies should increase their support to it in efforts to deter Russia.

The cost will be, not billions, but extra trillions to return NATO's power of prevention if Ukraine loses the war. The cost will be much, much higher than what we are currently considering in terms of increasing our spending and industrial production (for protection)”, he said.

In Europe, concerns about the war in Ukraine are growing amid reports that US President Donald Trump could make efforts to quickly end the war through talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in conditions that would be unfavourable to Ukraine, reports VOA.

Secretary Rutte warned against such a scenario.

If we reach a bad deal, it will only mean that we will see Russia's president celebrate with the leaders of North Korea, Iran and China, and this should be unacceptable for us. It would be a huge geopolitical error, gross mistake”, he added.

From the beginning of Russia's attack on Ukraine in February 2022, NATO has called on its member states to increase their military budget. According to coalition officials, 23 out of 32 NATO members are expected to meet the goal of contributing 2 per cent of their overall domestic production to defence this year.