“We will not allow ourselves to be intimidated”: NATO countries “must do more” to help Ukraine against Russia, says Mark Rutte

NATO member countries “must do more”, particularly with regard to air defense, to help Ukraine at a time when Russia is increasing its deadly strikes, Alliance Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Wednesday.

“With the arrival of winter, and while Russia's aggression continues, Allies must do more, particularly to support air defense” of Ukraine, he said at a press conference in Tallinn, Estonia.

Russian strikes against energy infrastructure in Ukraine overnight left at least seven dead and deprived 600,000 people of power, with Volodymyr Zelensky denouncing on Wednesday Vladimir Putin's “contempt” for Donald Trump's call for a truce in this type of strikes.

“Putin seeks to weaken our resolve”

“Russia continues its attacks against Ukrainian civilians. And it maintains its hybrid campaign against the NATO Allies,” said Mark Rutte, stressing that this should not undermine the determination of Ukraine’s allies to continue their support. Russian President Vladimir “Putin seeks to weaken our resolve and end our support for Ukraine. But Russia fails. She fails on the battlefield in Ukraine. And we will not let ourselves be intimidated,” assured the Dutch official.

Europeans are concerned about the increase in these so-called hybrid attacks, because they occur below the threshold of what is considered an act of war or a military operation, for example arson or sabotage. They are above all a “sign of weakness”, said Mark Rutte. And what the Russians “love is that we talk about it all day, and we get shaken up, and we have press conferences about it. We're not going to do that. We will react where we need to react. Once again, not always in a visible way,” he insisted.