NATO Secretary General: Europe can finance US weapons for Ukraine
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte called on the United States to continue supplying Ukraine with weapons and stated that Europe could pay for it.
He said this at an event at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Reuters reports.
Rutte also noted that the alliance should invest more in its own defense, increase defense industrial production, and assume a larger share of the costs of helping Ukraine.
“When it comes to Ukraine, we also need the United States to stay engaged,” the NATO Secretary General stated.
He emphasized that if the new administration of US President Donald Trump is ready to continue supporting Ukraine from its defense industrial base, the Europeans will pay the bill.
“I am absolutely convinced of this, we must be ready to do this,” Rutte added.
The NATO Secretary General’s comments follow US President Donald Trump’s statement earlier this week that the European Union should do more to support Ukraine.
In Davos, Rutte also stated that it was important that Russia did not win, as this could lead to Putin “high-fiving” the leaders of North Korea and China.
Starting in December 2024, NATO took over the coordination of Western military assistance to Ukraine instead of the United States.
To this end, in July 2024, a new NATO mission was established in Wiesbaden, Germany, to coordinate training and security assistance to Ukraine. It was named NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU).
It includes approximately 700 military personnel from NATO member and partner countries, including troops deployed to the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Belgium and logistics bases in Poland and Romania.
Recently, the United States announced that it has invested heavily in developing new drone models and expanding their production in Ukraine.