NATO boss calls for much higher defence spending to counter Russia

BRUSSELS - NATO head Mark Rutte warned the U.S.-led transatlantic alliance on Thursday that it was not ready for the threats it would face from Russia in the coming years and called for a shift to a wartime mindset - with much higher defence spending.

Rutte said future spending would have to be much higher than the current alliance target of 2% of national wealth as measured by gross domestic product (GDP).

“Russia is preparing for long-term confrontation, with Ukraine and with us,” Rutte said in a speech in Brussels.

“We are not ready for what is coming our way in four to five years,” the NATO secretary-general said, adding: “It is time to shift to a wartime mindset, and turbocharge our defence production and defence spending."

The alliance estimates 23 of its 32 members will meet the 2% target this year.

“During the Cold War, Europeans spent far more than 3% of their GDP on defence,” Rutte said. “We are going to need a lot more than 2%,” he added.

NATO members are grappling with renewed pressure from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has called for America’s allies to spend 3% of GDP on defence.

Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister, said that the alliance must step up on defence production, calling on governments to “stop creating barriers between each other and between industries, banks and pension funds”.

He sent a message to the defence industry: “There is money on the table, and it will only increase. So dare to innovate and take risks”.

The NATO chief also warned of a “coordinated campaign to destabilise our societies” including cyberattacks and assassination attempts.

Rutte also cautioned about China’s ambitions, saying that Beijing is substantially building up its forces “with no transparency and no limitations”.

(Reporting by Lili Bayer, Editing by Charlotte Van Campenhout, Kevin Liffey, William Maclean)