Russia's behavior 'crazy at every level' – Rutte on war grinder
Given the current death toll Russia is suffering on the battlefield, the willingness of the Kremlin leader to keep throwing soldiers into a war grinder explains why the Russians should be taken seriously.
This is according to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte who spoke during a discussion at the Munich Security Conference, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
"One, we have to realize the Russians are not winning this war," Rutte said, adding that Russia lost 65,000 soldiers in the past two months alone as they made only fairly small gains.
"If there is a dictator in Moscow willing to do that, to get so many officers killed in that war, we have to take that seriously, because this is crazy behavior at every level," believes Rutte.
In this context, Rutte called on Ukraine's partners to make sure Ukraine has all it needs to defend itself, including capabilities to shoot down incoming missiles and also hit targets in Russia's rear.
Commenting on military aid initiatives, including PURL where European nations procure critical US weapons for Ukraine, Rutte also noted bilateral contributions on the part of Europeans and Canada.
At the same time, he urged partners to provide aid in line with Ukraine's real priorities.
"Please use what the Supreme Allied Commander Europe has drawn up together with the Ukrainians, the list of stuff they need, don't give bilateral stuff outside," Rutte said, admitting that such assistance might still look nice and "gives you nice pictures and photographs in the newspapers."
"We know exactly what they need," Rutte noted, recalling that NSATU, the NATO structure set up in Wiesbaden, is doing a good job coordinating such assistance.
As Ukrinform reported, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte rejected any history-related arguments put forward by Russia in an attempt to justify its military aggression against Ukraine.