NATO's Rutte says billions in new defense contracts will be announced at summit

WASHINGTON, June 25 - NATO allies will announce tens of billions of dollars in defense-related deals at a summit next month in Turkey, and will also underscore their commitment to defense spending goals and reaffirm their support for Ukraine, NATO chief Mark Rutte said on Thursday.

The gathering, he said, would send a strong message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that the 32-member alliance is ready to respond to any "silly move against us."

In comments addressed directly to the Russian leader, Rutte said Putin "is not afraid of commitments, he is afraid of (us) implementing commitments, and that's exactly what we are doing, Vladimir. We will defend ourselves."

Rutte spoke at the Atlantic Council policy institute on the final day of a visit to Washington in advance of the July 7-8 summit in Ankara.

The summit will underscore that after years of underinvestment, allies are on a "trajectory" to reaching a defense spending goal agreed upon last year of 5% of GDP by 2035, said Rutte.

Allies still need to boost defense industrial production on both sides of the Atlantic, overcome "fragmented national defense industries" in Europe, reduce bureaucracy in Washington and boost innovation, he continued.

The prospects for achieving those goals "are plentiful" and tens of billions of dollars in new defense-related contracts will be announced at the summit, Rutte said.

"The result is not only improved security. We are in the early stages of a defense industrial revolution that will help grow our economies" and support hundreds of thousands of jobs, he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will attend the summit, which will reaffirm NATO's support for Ukraine in its more than four-year-old battle against Russian occupation forces.

"Our security is interlinked," he said. "Ukraine has shown that we won't be deterred by Russia's aggression." REUTERS