NATO's Rutte: Allies Are Russia's 'Next Target'

NATO chief Mark Rutte on Thursday warned allies to prepare for another world war, saying Europe is "Russia’s next target."

Speaking at a security event in Berlin, the secretary general painted a stark picture of the continent's future, saying Russia could be ready to use force against NATO "within five years" and urging Europeans to "shift to a wartime mindset."

He said allies must prepare for conflict on the scale their "grandparents or great-grandparents endured," including mass mobilization and widespread destruction.

Rutte argued that Moscow’s full-scale war on Ukraine, backed by Chinese technology and Iranian and North Korean arms, proves the Kremlin is rebuilding an "empire" and sees free European societies as a threat.

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He warned that if Russian President Vladimir Putin crushes Ukraine and reaches NATO's borders, alliance members would face “a truly gargantuan” surge in defense costs and a far higher risk of direct attack.

Rutte hailed this year's NATO summit in The Hague, where leaders agreed to drive total defense-related spending to 5% of GDP by 2035 — including 3.5% on core military outlays, far above the long-standing 2% benchmark.

Germany alone is planning to reach 3.5% by 2029, which Rutte called "staggering," and he pressed other European governments to follow.

At the same time, NATO is launching new operations such as "Eastern Sentry" and "Baltic Sentry" to reinforce the alliance's eastern flank and protect critical infrastructure after Russian drones violated Polish airspace and undersea cables were cut in the Baltic.

Rutte also touted a NATO program known as PURL (Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List), which funnels U.S.-made Patriot missiles and other air-defense munitions to Ukraine using allied money.

More than two-thirds of member states have signed on, with around $4 billion pledged so far.

But while the NATO chief insists "the time for action is now," his rhetoric will raise eyebrows among conservatives who see Europe’s elites again reaching for American firepower while asking voters at home to accept higher taxes, inflation and what Rutte openly calls "emergency budgets."

In his speech, he acknowledged that such a buildup would mean painful trade-offs across domestic programs.

In February, Rutte tried to reassure Washington that Europe is finally shouldering more of the burden and he gave credit to President Donald Trump.

The secretary-general noted it was the president, "when he was Trump 45 and now Trump 47," who consistently demanded that European allies and Canada spend more on defense, and argued that the new 5% target is exactly what Trump has been asking for since his first term.

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Rutte also conceded in other Berlin remarks that "President Trump wants to end the bloodshed now, and he’s the only one who can get Putin to the negotiating table," effectively acknowledging that any serious peace push will have to run through Washington and Trump’s White House.

Reuters contributed to this report.