NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte talks at Chatham House in London on June 9, 2025. During the speech, Rutte said NATO members must increase their air and missile defenses by 400% to counter threats from Russia. (NATO)
NATO members lack enough air and missile defenses to counter potential threats from Russia, the leader of the trans-Atlantic military alliance said Monday.
Speaking in London, Secretary General Mark Rutte said “a quantum leap” in collective defense is needed amid growing instability in Europe.
“We see in Ukraine how Russia delivers terror from above, so we will strengthen the shield that protects our skies,” Rutte said at Chatham House, a British think tank.
Rutte’s remarks came hours after Poland scrambled fighter jets along its border following Russian airstrikes that pummeled nearby western Ukraine.
Kyiv said Moscow launched some 500 drones and missiles at the country overnight on Monday, specifically targeting western regions, and described it as the largest drone attack on the country since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in early 2022.
Nearly 480 of the projectiles were shot down, according to Ukraine’s air defense forces. No violations of NATO airspace were reported.
Last week, NATO defense ministers agreed to ambitious new defense targets. While the exact details remain classified, Rutte shed some light on them Monday.
In addition to a 400% increase in air and missile defenses, he said NATO needs thousands of additional armored vehicles and tanks as well as millions of artillery shells and must beef up its logistics, transport and medical support.
He also said NATO would invest in more warships and aircraft, procuring at least 700 U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets.
“Putin’s war machine is speeding up, not slowing down,” Rutte said before repeating a warning that Moscow could be ready to use military force against NATO within five years.
“Russia is reconstituting its forces with Chinese technology and producing more weapons faster than we thought,” Rutte said.
He added that the amount of ammunition Moscow produces in three months is equal to what NATO produces in a year, and that Russia is expected to roll out 1,500 tanks, 3,000 armored vehicles and 200 Iskander missiles this year alone.
“Let’s not kid ourselves; we are all on the eastern flank now,” he said, referring to the alliance nations closest to Russia’s borders.
Rutte’s remarks come as President Donald Trump puts pressure on the U.S.’s European allies to increase defense spending to 5% of gross domestic product.
Currently, 22 of the alliance’s 32 member countries meet or exceed NATO’s spending benchmark of 2% of GDP.
Rutte is pushing for members to boost spending to 3.5% and commit a further 1.5% to broader security-related spending.
Repeating an assessment he first announced last month, the secretary general said Monday that he believes the target will be agreed to at NATO’s summit in The Hague, Netherlands, later this month.
“It is clear, if we do not invest more, our collective defense is not credible,” Rutte said. “Spending more is not about pleasing an audience of one. It’s about protecting 1 billion people.”
