NATO chief 'very happy' with Trump's threat to Russia!
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte welcomed newly inaugurated US President Donald Trump's warning on Wednesday that Russia could face more tariffs and sanctions if it does not end the war in Ukraine.
"I was very, very happy with Trump's position on imposing more sanctions on Russia. We know that the Russian economy is doing terribly badly and sanctions will help," he told CNBC on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
He expressed hope that Europe would now "accelerate" sanctions in an attempt to "choke the Russian economy" and reduce Moscow's war coffers. "Trump is right, Ukraine is closer to Europe, but Trump is also right that it is a geopolitical conflict, so I am sure the US wants it to end with a good and strong deal," Rutte added.
Trump said Wednesday that, if a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war is not reached soon, the US “will have no choice but to impose high levels of taxes, tariffs and sanctions on everything sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries.”
"Let's end this war, which would never have started if I were President!" Trump said on the "Truth Social" platform. "We can do it the easy way, or the hard way - and the easy way is always better."
Trump has previously boasted that he could end the war in Ukraine "within 24 hours" of the election, as well as threatening to cut military funding to Kiev. Concerns have grown in Europe that a financially and weapons-deprived Ukraine could be pushed into a bad peace deal that includes territorial concessions to Russia.
Rutte said the outcome of any peace deal must be "sustainable," noting that Russia's allies, including China and North Korea, would be "up in arms" otherwise. "We need to get to a position where Russia will never, ever, ever try to seize a square kilometer of Ukraine again, so it has to be a strong deal," Rutte said.
February will mark the third anniversary of Russia's invasion and while war fatigue has grown among some allies, the war has shown no sign of ending anytime soon with Russia looking to make gains and Ukraine preventing further territorial losses, ahead of any potential peace talks.
When asked about his current assessment of the war between Ukraine and Russia, NATO chief Rutte said that “at the moment, it is not moving in the right direction.” “At the moment, it [the war] is not moving in the right direction, [the front lines] should move eastward and that should move westward ... We need to change it, we need to change the trajectory of the war,” he said.
Defense costs
Trump's relationship with the Western military alliance was rocky during his first presidency, with the Republican leader frequently criticizing NATO member countries for failing to meet a 2014 target of spending at least 2% of GDP on defense each year.
Ahead of his second term in office, Trump signaled that the heated debate over military spending and Trump's perception that NATO members are too dependent on the US for their security would return to the agenda, declaring in January that NATO's 32 member countries should contribute even more to defense.
“I think NATO should have 5% [as a target],” he said. “Everyone can afford it, but it should be 5%, not 2%,” he told a news conference. Rutte said he agreed with Trump’s call for higher defense spending among NATO members, saying that countries that have not yet reached the 2% target, such as Spain, Italy and Canada, “should get to 2% in the coming months. It should be done this year.”
"Fortunately, thanks to Trump in his first term, we have increased defense spending. ... but we all need to get to 2%," he said, adding that Europe also needed to increase its defense industrial base.
Rutte himself has faced anxiety over why Dutch defense spending has consistently been below NATO's 2% target for most of his time as prime minister. Alliance data shows that Dutch defense spending remained below NATO's target for 2014-2023, but is estimated to have reached 2.05% of the country's GDP in 2024.
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