NATO chief calls on allies, partners to ‘outproduce and outpace' rivals

Japan Times

09-04-2025

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has called on members of the alliance and its four Indo-Pacific (IP4) partners to work more closely to outproduce Russia militarily and 'outpace' technological rivals such as China to counter what he views as 'existential' threats.
'At this moment, Russia is producing in three months (the amount of) ammunition that the whole of NATO, including the U.S., is producing in a year,' Rutte warned Wednesday during an event at Keio University in Tokyo, calling the massive capacity gap 'unacceptable' and 'unsustainable."
'The deteriorating security situation calls for us to do more, to produce more and boost our resilience. That is exactly what NATO is doing and what Japan is doing. Let's do it together,' Rutte noted ahead of meetings later in the day with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, trade minister Yoji Muto and representatives of several Japanese manufacturers of dual-use products.
'I understand this is not easy but if we don't do it, if we don't up our defense-industrial production — from Texas to Turkey, but also in (South) Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand — (then) we cannot keep ourselves safe. This is really existential,' he warned, while also sounding the alarm over 'harmful dependencies' on third countries that 'do not always share our values.'
The NATO secretary-general also proposed extending cooperation between the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific partners to cover defense tech and innovation, saying that this is a 'another area where NATO and Japan are closely aligned, and where I believe we can cooperate even more to outpace and outcompete our competitors.'
'We must learn from the battlefield in Ukraine as we prepare for the future,' he said, citing as an example the speed at which Russia has managed to neutralize some of the tech Kyiv has integrated into its drones.
Of particular concern, however, is China's growing technological advantage, Rutte stressed.
Beijing 'is rapidly developing technologies, integrating them into military capabilities and connecting new technologies together, (thus) multiplying their potential disruptive impact on our societies, our economies and on our security,' he warned.
'Competition in this field is fierce, so to maintain our military superiority and preserve our way of life, we need to innovate better, much faster and together,' he added.
Rutte's remarks followed talks with Defense Minister Gen Nakatani on Tuesday after which the Japanese defense chief announced Tokyo's interest in joining the NATO Security Assistance and Training Organization for Ukraine (NSATU) — a Germany-headquarted command launched last summer to plan, coordinate and arrange the delivery of security assistance to Ukraine.
Nakatani, however, didn't provide details on what Japan's participation would entail.
Rutte inspects the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Mogami stealth frigate as he visits the MSDF's naval base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Tuesday. |
REUTERS
So far, Australia and New Zealand are the only NSATU operational partners among the IP4 countries. Japan's participation in the mission would not only further institutionalize the partnership but also take ties with the world's largest military alliance to a higher level.
The Japanese defense chief also said the two sides would continue to strengthen personnel exchanges, including through the dispatch of Self-Defense Forces officers to NATO headquarters.
At the same time, Nakatani expressed Tokyo's intention to further advance 'practical' security and defense cooperation in various fields, such as improving interoperability and progressing "flagship projects" in areas such as cyberdefense, technology and countering disinformation and hostile information.
Prior to that meeting, Rutte had visited Yokosuka Naval Base and Mitsubishi Electric Kamakura Works in Kanagawa Prefecture to highlight the military alliance's interest in expanding military-industrial ties.
Commenting on the visit, the former Dutch prime minister said he understood that while companies both in Asia and the West need to 'develop and deliver capabilities faster,' they still face a 'real challenge' as they remain partially reliant on supply chains and raw materials from less-friendly countries.
Japan already has one of the closest relationships with NATO among any nonmember state.
Not only did the two sides upgrade ties in 2023 to what's referred to as an Individually Tailored Partnership Program (ITPP), but Japan has also been taking part in some NATO exercises for several years as it embraces the alliance's view that the security of the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions is 'inseparable.'
'The (Ukraine) conflict is truly global,' Rutte said, pointing to North Korean troops, Iranian drones and Chinese technologies 'fueling Russia's brutality against Ukraine and supporting Putin's attempts to crush freedom.'
The world is watching its outcome very closely, he said.
'If we allow Putin to use force to achieve its aims, it will not go unnoticed,' Rutte said in an oblique reference to China. 'It's Ukraine today, it could be East Asia tomorrow.'
While NATO wants the war to end, 'we need a peace that lasts,' he said. For this, Ukraine must remain strong so that Putin 'never again dares to attack, not Ukraine and not anyone else,' he noted, adding that in order to remain strong, Kyiv 'needs our help.'
Japan has been making significant contributions in support of Ukraine, something Rutte praised. Not only has it joined international sanctions against Moscow, it has also provided nonlethal defense gear to Ukraine such as surveillance drones, bulletproof vests, helmets, vehicles, tents and medical supplies.
Japan is also one of 15 countries to have signed a 10-year bilateral security agreement with Kyiv, formalizing its support and pledging to conduct consultations in the case of future attacks on the war-torn country.
Rutte's two-day Japan visit, his first to the Indo-Pacific since taking office in October, follows talks with Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya last week on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Brussels. Japan's top diplomat expressed at the time Tokyo's intention to take ties to an 'even higher level' so as to jointly address security challenges that transcend the region.