Image Credit: DANIEL MIHAILESCU / Contributor / Getty 
On Wednesday NATO’s Secretary-General Mark Rutte said that the bloc’s member-states must increase military production ahead of a prolonged standoff with Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, because those countries are challenging the “global rules.” Rutte said that even after the Ukraine war ends, Russia will remain a threat.
“The danger posed by Russia will not end when this war does,” he said. “For the foreseeable future, Russia will remain a destabilizing force in Europe and the world.”
The world-war-like proclamation was made to Western defense contractors at the NATO-Industry Forum in Bucharest, Romania. He promised that “there is more cash on the table and even more will flow.”
While cash was flaunted, Rutte also stressed that “cash alone cannot provide security. We need the capabilities. We need the equipment, real firepower, and of course… the most advanced tech.”
[Moscow is] not alone in its efforts to undermine the global rules … It is working with China, North Korea, Iran and others,” Rutte said. “They are increasing their defense industrial collaboration to unprecedented levels. They are preparing for long-term confrontation.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova reached out to ask Rutte to clarify what “global rules” he was talking about and publish their “full list” of global rules” on the bloc’s website.
Embed from Getty ImagesNATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (R) is welcomed by Romanian President Nicusor Dan at the presidential Cotroceni Palace in Bucharest, Romania, on November 5, 2025. (Photo by Daniel MIHAILESCU / AFP) (Photo by DANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP via Getty Images)
