NATO chief: "Putin is in the empire-building business again"
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Mark Rutte at a Munich Security Conference event in Berlin on Dec. 11. Photo: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg via Getty Images
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Thursday delivered dire warnings about Russian President Vladimir Putin and the growing threat of war that Europe faces from the Kremlin.
Why it matters: Rutte warned that Putin won't stop his aggression with Ukraine and could look to attack NATO countries within five years.
- "Conflict is at our door," Rutte said. "Russia has brought war back to Europe, and we must be prepared for the scale of war our grandparents or great-grandparents endured."
- The Russian Embassy did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment Thursday.
Threat level: Rutte said NATO has increased vigilance and strengthened defense along its eastern border with Russia.
- In less than a week this year, Russia launched drone incursions on both Polish and Romanian airspace. Russian fighter jets entered and stayed in Estonian airspace as well.
- Rutte mentioned targets beyond critical infrastructure, like attacks on commercial warehouses and shopping centers. "Such incidents put lives in danger and raise the risk of escalation," he said.
Zoom in: Rutte said that President Trump is the "the only one" who can get Putin to the negotiating table.
- "So, let's put Putin to the test, let's see if he really wants peace, or if he prefers the slaughter to continue," Rutte said.
- The White House referred Axios' to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt's Thursday news conference, where she said Trump spoke with Europeans yesterday on the matter.
- "The president is extremely frustrated with both sides of this war, and he is sick of meetings just for the sake of meeting," she added. "He doesn't want any more talk; he wants action."
Context: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that the Trump administration hopes to reach a "full understanding" over its peace plan by Christmas.
- A meeting is set for Saturday with senior officials from Ukraine, France, Germany and the UK. Zelensky faces growing pressure to accept Trump's 20-point peace plan, which would require Ukraine to concede territorial losses and hold swift elections.
- "If there is a real chance of signing a peace agreement, if we feel like those meetings are worthy of someone on the United States' time this weekend, then we will send a representative," Leavitt said Thursday. "It's still up in the air whether we believe real peace can be accomplished and we can truly move the ball forward."
- Trump said earlier this week that Russia has a stronger negotiating position than Ukraine in ending the war.
- "The Trump administration continues to be very much engaged in trying to bring the Russia-Ukraine war to an end," Leavitt said.
The bottom line: "During the Cold War, President Reagan warned about the 'aggressive impulses of an evil empire,'" Rutte said. "Today, President Putin is in the empire-building business again."
Go deeper: Putin's war is "not just about Ukraine," says Estonian ambassador
Editor's note: This story has been updated with quotes from Karoline Leavitt's news conference.
