NATO has “all the response options” it needs to respond to Russia’s hybrid warfare, “but not all of them will be made public”, Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Monday, Euractiv reports.
“Some things will be visible to the public, others will not, for reasons we cannot always make known,” Rutte told reporters alongside Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša at the alliance HQ in Brussels.
Rutte also warned that Russia was becoming increasingly reckless in Ukraine and was targeting civilian infrastructure close to NATO territory.
“Russia is struggling in Ukraine and continues to lash out with reckless and dangerous attacks,” he said. The Russian strike on a passenger train in Ukraine on Sunday showed “how desperate Putin has become”, Rutte added.
Putin believes he can stop NATO allies from supporting Ukraine and undermine their unity, Rutte said. “He is wrong.”
“Our response is to increase support for Ukraine so that it has what it needs to defend itself,” he said, adding that NATO’s commitment to collective defence was “unwavering”.
Commenting on internal politics Janša said Slovenia, which has yet to reach the old NATO defence spending target of 2% of GDP, would reach the updated 3.5% goal this year after approving additional funding through a supplementary budget.
Rutte also defended NATO’s 3.5% defence spending target, saying it was “not a figure pulled out of thin air” but was rooted in the alliance’s capability planning process.
Spending 3.5% of GDP is needed to fund traditional capabilities such as personnel, fighter jets and tanks, as well as newer technologies including artificial intelligence, drones and counter-drone systems, he said.
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