NATO Chief on Russia: Surprising Statement & Shift in Tone

The tension between NATO and Moscow is growing, fueled in recent weeks mainly by incidents with drones or aerial violations of allied airspace. Sabotage and cyber attacks are also on the rise. Rutte has now commented on the situation and tried to ease fears about Russia – he emphasized that the NATO countries are twenty-five times larger from an economic point of view, the Kyiv Independent website reported.

In connection with the recent air raids on the territory of some states, he noted that it is difficult to determine for sure whether it was intentional or not. “We are so much stronger than the Russians that we don’t have to shoot down their planes when they enter our airspace,” he added.

However, some European representatives have a different opinion and, on the contrary, call for the downing of planes crossing the borders of the alliance countries. Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski probably made the sharpest speech at the UN Security Council meeting at the end of September. In a sharp speech, he warned Russia not to complain if a plane or drone violating Polish airspace was shot down.

In September, Polish forces shot down several Russian drones that entered its territory. Bucharest decided not to attack when a Russian drone violated Romanian airspace a few days later. Three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets subsequently entered Estonian airspace over the Gulf of Finland for 12 minutes in mid-September – this started consultations under Article 4 of NATO.

Suspicious drone sightings also disrupted operations at airports in Germany, Norway and Denmark. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on October 5 that he believed Russia was responsible for many unidentified drones seen over German territory.

At the end of September, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi also commented on the situation in Europe. According to him, reports from the Ukrainian secret services indicate that the Russians are using the so-called shadow fleet of oil tankers to launch drones and control them over European cities. The alliance thus strengthened the defense within the Eastern Sentry mission.

Rutte recently warned against Russia

In June, Rutte urgently warned against the power of Moscow. In London, at a conference of the prestigious Chatham House think tank, he spoke about the fact that in five years Russia could directly attack NATO. He went on to tell the member countries bordering Russia that there is no longer an eastern and western wing, but one alliance.

“Putin’s economy is running in a mode of total war,” appealed Rutte, again recalling the complete economic dominance of the alliance countries. But according to him, wars start with ammunition stocks. “Despite our size, we are 4 to 1 behind in terms of ammunition. This must change – and urgently. Europe and Canada must match US spending,” Rutte pointed out in London in June.