Photo: EPA
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on January 21 at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the war in Ukraine remains NATO’s top priority.
“The risk is that you naturally focus on Greenland, because we need to make sure this issue is resolved in a friendly way. But the main problem is not Greenland. Right now, the main problem is Ukraine,” Rutte said, adding that he is concerned leaders could “miss the moment by focusing on other issues.”
He noted that in December alone Russia lost around 1,000 troops a day — killed, not wounded — amounting to more than 30,000 in a single month. “In the 1980s, the Soviet Union lost 20,000 troops in Afghanistan over 10 years. Now they are losing 30,000 a month, yet they continue their offensive,” Rutte said.
He warned against complacency, stressing that financial commitments or progress in peace talks must not lead to reduced support for Kyiv. “Ukraine needs our support now, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow,” he emphasized.
Rutte also said in Davos that former U.S. President Donald Trump is right about the need to protect the Arctic from Russian and Chinese influence and added that without Trump, European countries would not have increased their defense spending.
