Europe must prepare for a conflict with Russia “on the scale our grandparents endured”, Nato’s secretary general has said in a stark warning to the West.
Tensions have been escalating across the continent in recent weeks after a spate of drone incursions into Nato airspace and a chilling statement by Russian president Vladimir Putin that his country was “ready for war right now” if Europe wants it.
“We are Russia’s next target. And we are already in harm’s way,” Mark Rutte said in a speech in Berlin on Thursday.
“Russia has brought war back to Europe, and we must be prepared for the scale of war our grandparents and great-grandparents endured.”
Insisting on an immediate and rapid boost of defence spending as a deterrence, he added: “Conflict is at our door.”
Mr Rutte suggested Russia could use military force against Nato within the next five years, but said Europe was not ready.
“I fear that too many are quietly complacent,” he cautioned. “Too many don’t feel the urgency. And too many believe that time is on our side. It is not. The time for action is now.”
“Allied defence spending and production must rise rapidly. Our armed forces must have what they need to keep us safe.”
In a scathing attack on Russia’s leader, he added: “Putin is paying for his pride with the blood of his own people. And if he is prepared to sacrifice ordinary Russians in this way, what is he prepared to do to us?”
His comments came as talks to end Russia’s war on Ukraine have struggled to gain momentum, and after the Trump administration indicated it expects Europe to be less dependent on the US for its security.
On Thursday, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said he had presented the US with a revised 20-point peace plan to end the conflict.
Ukraine giving up territory to Russia has been a key sticking point, but the Americans have now put forward the possibility of a “free economic zone” in the Donbas.
US negotiators foresee Ukrainian forces withdrawing from the Donetsk region, with the compromise being that Russian forces do not enter that territory, Mr Zelensky said. Ukraine’s leader stressed that any territorial concessions would have to go to a referendum.
“We have two key points of disagreement: the territories of Donetsk and everything related to them, and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. These are the two topics we continue to discuss,” Mr Zelensky told reporters on Thursday.
