NATO will not be intimidated by Russian threats and will continue to provide strong support to Kyiv, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said during his first visit to the headquarters of the Alliance's mission to Ukraine in Wiesbaden, Germany, which intends to take over the coordination of military assistance from the United States. This was reported by UNN with reference to Reuters.
The message (to Russian President Vladimir Putin - ed.) is that we will continue, that we will do everything necessary to make sure that he does not get his way, that Ukraine will win
Rutte spoke at the US base where the headquarters of the new mission, called NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU), which will gradually take over the coordination of Western military aid to Kyiv. The move is widely seen as an attempt to protect the aid mechanism from the possible return of NATO critic Donald Trump to the White House.
Diplomats acknowledge, however, that handing over the coordination of military assistance to NATO may have limited effect, given that the United States is the dominant power in NATO and provides most of the weapons to Ukraine.
The total strength of NSATU is expected to be around 700 troops, including those stationed at NATO's SHAPE military headquarters in Belgium and logistics centers in Poland and Romania.
The Wiesbaden base is also home to the U.S. unit responsible for the long-range missiles that Washington will temporarily deploy to Germany from 2026 to counter what both countries say is a threat from Russian missiles stationed near Kaliningrad, about 500 kilometers from Berlin.
During his first visit to Germany as NATO chief, Rutte welcomed the move.
Rutte, who served as prime minister of the Netherlands from 2010 to 2024, said it is crucial for NATO to have the full range of capabilities needed to deter the Russian threat.
“We are NATO. We are a defensive alliance, we are not offensive. We are not interested in seizing any part of any other country outside of NATO territory,” he said.
“As a democratic alliance, the strongest military alliance in world history, serving 1 billion people, we are ready to face any threat. We will never be intimidated by our adversaries,” Rutte said.
60 літаків, 2 тис. військових: НАТО розпочало щорічні ядерні навчання14.10.24, 10:48