NATO’s new leader Mark Rutte, who replaced Jens Stoltenberg as NATO Secretary General on Tuesday, the 1st of October, expressed strong support for Ukraine and said he was not worried about the upcoming US presidential election because he could work with both candidates – just weeks before the US presidential election, in which Democratic Vice-President Kamala Harris will face Republican Donald Trump, who has been critical of NATO and has not said whether he wants Ukraine to win the war against Russia, reports Reuters.
Stoltenberg, a former Norwegian prime minister, is leaving his post as NATO chief after a tumultuous decade marked mainly by Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine as well as Sweden and Finland joining NATO.
The war in Ukraine has returned NATO, founded in 1949 to deter and defend against possible attacks by the Soviet Union on Western Europe, to the centre of international affairs.
On the war in Ukraine, he avoided directly answering the question whether Kiyv is winning.
Rutte said that the situation on the battlefield was “complex” and that Russia had made “limited” progress this year, but at a high cost. He said he had seen estimates that 1 000 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded every day recently.
“We must ensure that Ukraine becomes a sovereign, independent, democratic state,” former Dutch Prime Minister Rutte told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
Rutte downplayed concerns about the election of NATO’s ruling superpower, the US, saying: “I am not worried. I know both candidates very well.”
“I worked with Donald Trump for four years. He was the one who encouraged us to spend more (on defence) and he succeeded because we are indeed spending much more now than when he took office,” Rutte added.
According to NATO estimates, 23 out of 32 Member States will reach the target of spending at least 2% of GDP on defence this year, compared to just three countries a decade ago. Officials say this is partly due to Trump, but largely because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Rutte said that Trump was right to urge NATO to pay more attention to China. He echoed NATO’s claim that China has become a “critical enabler” of Moscow’s belligerence in Ukraine by supplying Russia with vital technology.
Ruth also praised Harris, saying she has “fantastic experience as a Vice President” and is a “very respected leader”.
Signalling his continued commitment, Rutte said he had three main priorities:
to ensure that NATO has the capacity to defend itself against any enemies, to support Ukraine, and to solve global problems by working with partners “near and far”.
The war has also forced NATO to increase its troop presence on its eastern flank and review its defence plans, prioritising the threat of an attack from Moscow more than since the Cold War.
While Western leaders stress that NATO is a defensive alliance, Moscow has long seen it as a threat to Russia’s security. The Kremlin said on Tuesday that it did not expect relations with NATO to improve under Rite’s leadership.
One of Rutte’s main tasks will be to persuade NATO members to provide additional troops, weapons and spending to fully implement the new defence plans, diplomats and analysts have said.
“We need to do more for our collective defence and deterrence. We need to invest more, address capability gaps and strive to achieve all NATO’s objectives,” Rutte said.
The Alliance takes decisions by consensus, so much of the Secretary-General’s job is to find compromises.