Rutte: Russia produces as much ammunition in three months as NATO does in year
Photo: NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (Getty Images)
Over the past few years, it has become clear that Russia poses a major threat. In three months, it produces as much ammunition as the entire NATO does in a year, stated NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte during a press conference following a meeting of defense ministers from Alliance member countries in Brussels.
Rutte said that the last few years have shown that changes are extremely important. There is a major threat from Russia, which launched a full-scale war against Ukraine in 2022, he added.
NATO Secretary General noted that Russia, with a much weaker economy than NATO, produces in three months the same amount of ammunition that the Alliance produces in a year.
"War-time Russia produces, in core ammunition, in three months what the whole of NATO, a 25 times bigger economy, produces in a year," Rutte emphasized.
He noted that NATO countries must already prepare for possible aggression from Russia and increase defense spending.
"If we don't take actions now, if we don’t do this now, the next few years we are fine, but three, four, five years from now, we are really under threat,” he said.
Threat to NATO from Russia
Earlier, German intelligence reported that Russia was likely preparing for a possible large-scale war with NATO. It is believed that Russian leader Vladimir Putin intends to achieve his goals by force.
Later, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda stated that an attack by Russia could take place in a few years and stressed that Lithuania has about four to five years to prepare.
In addition, last month it became known that Russia had intensified its surveillance of NATO activities in the Baltic Sea. Moreover, Russia has repeatedly resorted to demonstrations of force and provocations.
The Alliance recently asked Germany to provide seven more brigades - about 40,000 troops - to strengthen NATO's defense.
In addition, NATO is calling on its allies to urgently strengthen their military capabilities. Priorities have already been set, including:
- air and missile defense,
- long-range weapon systems,
- logistics,
- large ground forces.
It was also announced today that NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will propose a defense investment plan amounting to 5% of GDP at the Alliance summit in The Hague, which will take place at the end of June.
