Mark Rutte warns allies to start ramping up preparations "for the scale of war our grandparents or great-grandparents endured".

Former Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said after the Ukraine war, Europe must be ready for further Russian aggression.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned Thursday that members of the alliance could be “Russia’s next target,” calling for a rapid rise in defense spending to prevent a war similar to those seen by past generations.

The Kremlin said on Sunday that NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte's remarks about preparing for war with Russia were irresponsible and showed that he did not really understand the devastation wrought by World War Two.

Nato chief Mark Rutte said on Thursday that the defence alliance should be “prepared for the scale of war our grandparents or great-grandparents endured”, and warned: “We are Russia’s next target.” Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, eight years after illegally annexing the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.

Secretary-General Mark Rutte chastised some allies for moving too slowly when it comes to ramping up defense spending.

Estonia has started constructing concrete bunkers along its border with Russia as nations on NATO’s eastern flank rushes to build up land defenses. The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania signed an agreement in January 2024 to beef up protection along their land borders with Russia and Moscow’s key ally, Belarus.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday voiced readiness to drop his country's bid to join NATO in exchange for Western security guarantees, but rejected the U.S. push for ceding territory to Russia as he held talks with U.