"Russian President Vladimir Putin warned European powers on December 2 that if they start a "war" with Russia, Moscow is ready to fight. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a roundtable of ambassadors in Moscow on December 11 that the Kremlin has no plans to strike out militarily at either the European Union or NATO and is "ready to set out the relevant guarantees in writing and in a legal document" stating as much "on a collective, mutual basis.""
""We are Russia's next target. And we are already in harm's way," Rutte said, noting Russia could be ready to use military force against NATO within five years. "I fear that too many are quietly complacent. Too many don't feel the urgency. And too many believe the time is on our side. It is not. The time for action is now," Rutte added as he called for allied defense spending and production to "rise rapidly" to ensure the alliance's forces "have what they need to keep us safe.""
Mark Rutte warned that NATO's 32 members face an urgent threat from Russia and could be targeted within five years. He urged rapid increases in allied defense spending and production to ensure forces are equipped and to prevent a war on the scale experienced by previous generations. NATO remained on edge after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago, a conflict that produced massive casualties. The Kremlin cited NATO expansion as a reason for the invasion, while Russian leaders issued mixed messages about readiness to fight and offers to provide written guarantees against striking NATO or the EU.
Read at RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
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