Maintaining the Ukrainian army at a high level of readiness, a coalition of the willing, and a close alliance between Europe and the United States are, according to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, the main pillars of long-term security not only for Ukraine, but also for continental Europe.
In an interview with Bild, Mark Rutte spoke about Europe’s security. One of the pillars he identified was increased defense spending, while emphasizing that “the Alliance does not intend to stop there.”
In the context of Ukraine, he outlined three possible levels of security guarantees. The first involves maintaining a high level of combat readiness of the Ukrainian armed forces.
“They must be in excellent condition. Of course, they are doing an extraordinary job in this war, but they must also be able to protect the country after the war ends or after a prolonged ceasefire,”
Rutte stressed.
He also spoke about a coalition of the willing: “This coalition will provide everything necessary – apart from the Ukrainian armed forces themselves – so that Putin does not dare to launch aggression again.”
The third level is support from the United States. “We are now working on combining these three elements – the Ukrainian armed forces, the coalition of the willing, and the U.S. contribution – in such a way that Putin understands very clearly: he must never touch Ukraine again,” he said.
At the same time, he assured that under Donald Trump’s leadership, the United States would not turn away from Europe or from NATO itself, as the Alliance is also needed by Washington.
“The United States has a direct security interest in remaining in NATO. For a long time, there was a serious obstacle: we Europeans were not spending enough. Now we are catching up,”
he declared.
Asked about the possible presence of foreign troops in Ukraine after the end of the war, he confirmed that several European countries have declared their readiness to send troops if necessary.
“Work is ongoing to determine the exact structure of this coalition of the willing: what would the deployment of forces look like? What would happen on land, at sea, in the air, and so on? All of these elements are currently being refined,”
he said, declining to provide details.
In addition to the earlier security elements, he also pointed to the high morale of young people in Europe.
“I have no doubts: when the situation becomes serious, young people will be ready to take up arms. Putin has 140 million inhabitants. NATO countries together have about one billion. In every respect, we are currently stronger than Russia,”
he assured.