In his annual year-end press conference Russian President Vladimir Putin put NATO chief Mark Rutte in his place after Rutte’s bellicose statements about preparing for war with Russia. “Regarding these aggressive statements—you know, I look at them, and I am surprised too,” Putin said. “For instance, I personally know the current NATO Secretary General, Mr Rutte. He is the former Prime Minister of the Netherlands. I once visited the country and spoke with him. He is an intelligent man, and he was a competent, strategically minded, and efficient prime minister. The Dutch economy is in good shape, and this is partly due to his efforts. And what nonsense is he talking now? I just want to ask him: what are you saying about a war with Russia? ‘We must prepare for war with Russia.'
“They want to prepare for a war with Russia. But can you even read? Just read the new US National Security Strategy. It says that the United States—let me emphasize—is the player in NATO. The United States established NATO; it is NATO’s main sponsor. All the main resources come from the US: funding, military technology, weapons, ammunition. That is the foundation of the Alliance.
“And yet the new National Security Strategy does not list Russia as an enemy or a target. Nevertheless, the NATO Secretary General is preparing for war with us. How does that make sense? Can you even read? How can NATO aim to go to war with Russia if the Alliance’s leading power does not regard us as an adversary or an enemy?”