NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has called on the United States to continue supplying Ukraine with weapons in its war against Russia, assuring that European nations will bear the financial burden.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum on Thursday, Rutte stressed that Europe would expand its arms production, boost military spending, and shoulder a greater share of the costs involved in supporting Ukraine.
He stated: ‘If this new Trump administration is willing to keep on supplying Ukraine from its defence industrial base, the bill will be paid by the Europeans. I’m absolutely convinced of this, we have to be willing to do that.’
Rutte also warned that NATO’s escalating military expenditure has pushed the alliance into ‘crisis mode’, acknowledging that ‘on industry production, we are really in a bad place’.
He emphasised the importance of continued US involvement in Ukraine, but refrained from specifying how much Europe would contribute or whether a consensus had been reached among European leaders.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed frustration over NATO’s failure to fulfil commitments made at the alliance’s summit in Washington last July.
‘The decisions made in July at the NATO summit as well as those adopted during the Ramstein meetings regarding air defences for Ukraine have still not been fully implemented,’ Zelensky stated earlier this month.
Richard Grenell, Trump’s envoy for special missions, participated remotely in the DAVOS discussions, argued, ‘The American people are the ones that are paying for the defence.
‘You cannot ask the American people to expand the umbrella of NATO when the current members aren’t paying their fair share, and that includes the Dutch, who need to step up.’
