6 hours agoNATO head calls for 400 per cent air defence strengthening
Periskopi(a year ago)
(a year ago)Secretary - General NATO, Mark Rutte, called on June 9th for a 400 per cent increase in antiaircraft and missile defence to protect the northeast alliance from Russian threats. “In Ukraine we are looking at how Russia uses terror from air, so we will strengthen the shield protecting our sky”, Rutte said. [...]
“in Ukraine we are looking at how Russia uses air terror, so we will strengthen the shield protecting our sky”, Rutte said during a speech at the Chatham House Institute in London, according to the statement published by the AFP.
“NATO needs a 400 per cent increase in air and missile defence capacities to preserve a reliable pre-emptive and defence”, he added.
“Fat is that we need a huge increase in our collective defence”, he stressed.
Rutte will meet with the prime minister of Great Britain, Keir Starmer, on Monday, for the second time in Downing Street since the Laburist leader's arrival in July 2024.
Rutte's comments come ahead of the NATO summit, to be held this month in the Netherlands.
But Moscow has promptly condemned its statements, naming it NATO as a <x0instrument aggression”.
“NATO is appearing as an instrument of aggression and confrontation”, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in front of reporters in Moscow.
US President Donald Trump is putting pressure on NATO member states to significantly increase their military budgets. It is demanding that protection expenses reach five percent gross domestic product (BPB), from the current two - percent target.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week in Brussels that allies are close to reaching an agreement on the new five per cent target, which is expected to be formalised at The Hague summit.
“We believe that within weeks this alliance will pledge five percent, out of which 3.5 percent will go for heavy arms and 1.5 percent for defence infrastructure and activities”, Hegseth said on Thursday. “This is a real commitment, and we believe that any country can increase its contribution”.
NATO member states are working to boost their defence capacities since the start of Russia's war against Ukraine in February 2022. /Periscope/
