NATO Secretary General: Europe To Pay For Weapons For Ukraine
- 24.01.2025, 5:44
Mark Rutte has called on the US to continue supplying weapons to Kyiv.
On 23 January, during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte urged the US to continue supplying Ukraine with weapons to fight the Russian invasion and expressed confidence that Europe is ready to pay the bill. He was quoted by NATO's official website as saying.
‘We need the US to stay engaged and do everything possible to ensure that Ukraine is in a strong position by the start of peace talks. However, I can say to the Europeans: if the new administration of [US President Donald] Trump is willing to continue to supply Ukraine from its defence industrial base, the bill will be paid by the Europeans. I am absolutely convinced of that. We should be ready to do that, because at the moment they are paying more than the Europeans. And that's where Trump is right. This is a worldwide conflict, yes, but still Ukraine is closer to Europe than to the United States,’ he said.
The NATO Secretary General said that Europe needs to increase defence spending as the threat to its security is growing. He noted that not all EU countries have reached the level of this spending at 2 per cent of GDP, while even this is far from enough. ‘We are safe now, but NATO collectively will not be able to defend itself in four or five years if we stick to 2 per cent,’ Rutte said.
Asked to clarify his comments, Rutte told Reuters that if the United States continued to supply arms to Ukraine, then it was only fair that Europe, in terms of the financial cost burden of those supplies, would ‘bear the biggest burden.’ He did not name the exact amount Europe would pay, nor did he say whether he had agreement with European leaders on the issue.