“There’s no need to be afraid for now,” he told German news agency DPA when asked whether NATO countries should be afraid of Russia, but added that if NATO doesn’t increase defense spending and defense industry output, “in four or five years we will have serious problem”.
Russia has significantly increased its defense industry in connection with its renewed invasion of Ukraine, and as Rite said, NATO allies have not yet done enough to respond.
“We need to increase defense production, the defense industrial base,” he said, noting that “additional production lines, additional shifts, because we’re not producing enough military material to protect ourselves in the long term.”
Rite admitted that he expects new demands from Donald Trump, who will return to the post of US president in January after a four-year hiatus.
NATO’s secretary-general said he expected pressure from Trump, who threatened to withdraw from the alliance during his first term in office if the allies did not spend 2 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense.
“He will want us to do more. And he is right. We need to do more,” stated Rite.
NATO allies have pledged to invest at least 2% of GDP in defense, and many allies in Europe have already reached that goal, he noted.
However, in four to five years, there will be a problem with deterring Russia if defense spending does not increase, the politician said.
Rite did not say whether NATO allies should aim to spend 3% of GDP or even more.
A decision on new spending commitments is expected to be taken at the alliance summit in The Hague next June.
During the US presidential election campaign, Trump had announced that, in his opinion, NATO’s defense commitment should be increased to 3% of GDP. It was recently reported that Trump could demand that allies spend as much as 5% of their GDP on defense.
In the dispute over German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s consistent refusal to supply long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine, Rite made it clear that he personally would do otherwise and would not impose any restrictions on the use of the weapons.
The former Dutch prime minister said that this type of capability was very important to Ukraine, but said he was not in a position to decide what allies should supply.
However, Rite strongly defended German Chancellor Olaf Scholz against criticism.
“We can praise him for the fact that Germany is now second only to the United States in providing $28 billion ($29.1 billion) in military aid to Ukraine, and by some estimates as much as $34 billion. This is a huge amount and is significantly ahead of many others, including some very large European economies,” the NATO Secretary General said, adding that Kyiv can be grateful for such an investment.
Rite also admitted that he considers the sometimes harsh criticism of Sholtz by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to be unfounded.
Zelensky recently criticized Scholz for talking to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on the phone. He has also repeatedly expressed his confusion over the fact that Scholz refuses to deliver the German-made Taurus missiles, which could be used to attack deep into Russian territory.
Scholz has ruled out their delivery regardless of the decisions of other NATO allies, arguing that it would pose a high risk of escalation.
Rite said that it is important for Germany to understand that its values and security are at stake when it comes to policy regarding Ukraine.
“If Ukraine loses, we will have to spend much, much, much more than we currently spend on defense to make sure that the Russian threat is countered,” he declared.
Rite said he makes a similar argument in his conversations with Trump.
Concerns are growing in Europe that Trump could reduce military aid to Ukraine – even if that means Russia can present itself as the winner of the war.
Russia’s cooperation with North Korea, Iran and China threatens the United States, the NATO Secretary General warned.
This means that Ukraine needs further military support before any possible peace talks, he stressed.
“Our focus now is to ensure that Ukraine enters any negotiations from a position of strength,” Rite said.
