NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte rebukes Russia over nuclear threats

BRUSSELS — NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Wednesday issued a strong rebuke to Russia after Moscow sent a letter to the alliance threatening nuclear escalation over NATO activity near its border.

"We had to reply and make clear to [Russia] that NATO is a defensive alliance ... and stop the war in Ukraine and stop the nuclear threats because it's not helpful," Rutte said at a security summit in Brussels. "NATO is so much stronger than Russia is, so there's no way they can ever beat us."

"The best way to deal with this is to have a little bit of calm," he added. "That's the message: calm, carry on, keep the support for Ukraine going — that's how we deal with it."

Rutte's unusually strong remarks underscore the growing tensions between Moscow and NATO countries as hybrid attacks and Russian-linked sabotage proliferate across Europe.

In recent days, Russia's embassy in Belgium sent NATO a note alleging the alliance was displaying "reckless and irresponsible" behavior near its Kaliningrad exclave, following alliance exercises involving several reconnaissance planes, ground forces and fighter jets near the region, which is between Poland and Lithuania, last month.

"We have emphasised that Russia possesses the necessary means to repel any potential aggression and is prepared to deploy its entire arsenal to defend its territory should NATO countries attempt to isolate the Kaliningrad region from the rest of our country," the embassy wrote on social media.

In its letter to NATO, Moscow explicitly mentions the use of its nuclear arsenal and issues specific threats to hit allied territory, according to one NATO diplomat briefed on the letter, who was granted anonymity to speak freely.

NATO has sent a note back to Russian officials in response, the alliance's spokesperson Allison Hart confirmed.

"We have sent a response, noting that NATO is a defensive Alliance and none of our activities or exercises pose a risk to any part of Russia," she said in a statement. "We strongly denounce the threat of force, including any irresponsible nuclear rhetoric."

Inside NATO, some allies are dismissing the threat. "Our reading is that they want to intimidate allied public opinion so that allies stop supporting [Ukraine], while, at the same time, presenting NATO as the one that would be responsible for an eventual escalation," said the same NATO diplomat cited above. "Textbook Russian propaganda."

"Russia always accelerates when it's the most guilty or when [it] loses," said a second alliance diplomat. "So they are cornered now and they transfer the blame on NATO."

Russia's embassy to Belgium didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.