NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte says he does not expect Russia to attack the alliance in the coming years, arguing that its strength makes such a move unlikely.

Speaking to the BBC during an official visit to London on Thursday, Rutte said the lessons of the war in Ukraine meant that NATO should not be “naive” about what Russian President Vladimir Putin is capable of.

At the same time, he said he did not believe Russia would attack NATO in the next few years because the alliance is currently too strong for Putin to risk such a move, the Hungarian News Agency (MTI) wrote.

Rutte calls for NATO to maintain its strength

Rutte stressed that NATO must ensure it remains equally strong over the next “two, three, five years”. His comments come as European countries continue to increase defence spending and strengthen their military capabilities amid Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also highlighted the need for stronger European defence in her State of the Union address on Wednesday, saying the war in Ukraine had demonstrated the importance of capabilities including air and missile defence.

She said Europe needed to reduce its dependence on a single supplier and announced plans to develop an affordable, modular missile-defence system together with Ukraine. The proposed Freyja project would combine Ukrainian battlefield experience with European technology and production capacity.

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EU continues military support for Ukraine

The EU is also continuing to provide military assistance to Ukraine. According to the sources, von der Leyen announced a further EUR 3.3 billion in support for Ukrainian purchases of missiles and drones.

The EU has already approved substantial additional defence funding this month. On 11 September, the European Commission approved EUR 6.1 billion for Ukrainian purchases of air and missile defence systems, missiles, ammunition, drones and electronic warfare equipment. The package also enables Ukraine to acquire Patriot equipment and PAC-3 missiles.

The Commission has said the remaining funds from the EU’s SAFE programme will also be used for joint defence projects with Ukrainian companies, with the Freyja missile-defence project at the centre of the planned cooperation.

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