Rutte: Russia's victory in Ukraine would have major consequences for NATO

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on Thursday that a Russian victory against Ukraine would undermine the deterrent power of the world's largest military alliance and cost it trillions of euros to restore credibility.

NATO is increasing its presence along its eastern flank with Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, having sent thousands of troops and equipment there to deter Moscow from spreading its war into the territories of any of the alliance's 32 members.

"If Ukraine loses, then to restore the deterrent power of the rest of NATO, the price will be much, much higher than what we are considering at this time in terms of increasing our spending and industrial production," Rutte said.

"It won't be extra billions; it will be extra trillions," he added, speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Rutte insisted that Ukraine's Western backers should "increase, not reduce, the support" they are giving it, almost three years after the start of Russia's full-scale occupation.

"We must change the trajectory of the war," Rutte said, adding that the West "cannot allow in the 21st century that one state invades another state and tries to colonize it."

Fears are growing in Europe that US President Donald Trump may seek to quickly end the war by holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin under conditions that are unfavorable to Ukraine, but Rutte seemed careful not to rush things.

"If we have a bad deal, it would mean that we would see the president of Russia partying with the leaders of North Korea, Iran and China, and we cannot accept that," the former Dutch prime minister said.

"This would be a big geopolitical mistake," Rutte added.

Trump's new envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell, criticized allies who talk about continuing the war and continue to fail to increase their defense spending, according to NATO guidelines.

He said Americans think it's "scandalous" that the Biden administration refused to talk to Putin.

NATO leaders have agreed that each member state should spend at least 2 percent of its Gross Domestic Product on their military budgets.

The alliance estimates that 23 countries will reach the target this year, although almost a third will fall behind. Poland and Estonia spend the most based on GDP.

"You can't ask the American people to expand the NATO umbrella when current members are not paying their fair share," Grenell said.

In recent days, Trump has made his harshest comments to date towards Putin, whom he has often spoken of with admiration.

On January 22, Trump, addressing his Russian counterpart by name, warned Moscow that it would face "high" new tariffs, taxes, and sanctions if it did not quickly stop its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

A day earlier, he suggested he would impose additional sanctions on Russia if Putin did not accept peace talks to end the war.

And on January 20, on his first day in office, Trump said that Putin was "destroying" Russia by refusing to make a deal to end the war.

The war in Ukraine began in 2014 with the Kremlin's illegal invasion and annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and escalated with its full occupation by Russia in February 2022./ REL