Rutte: NATO must boost air defences fourfold to counter Russia threat

Euronews

2 days ago

Iran claims it has obtained a large batch of information on Israel's nuclear programme, its intelligence minister said on Sunday, without providing any evidence to support it.
Speaking to Iranian state television after a cabinet meeting, Esmail Khatib said the Intelligence Ministry had acquired 'an important treasury of strategic, operational and scientific intelligence' from Israel, which he said had been 'transferred into the country with God's help.'
Khatib alleged that thousands of documents had been seized, including information related to Europe, the US and other individual countries, though he did not explain how the intelligence was obtained.
Khatib, a Shiite cleric who was sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2022 for his alleged involvement in cyber espionage, said the documents would be made public soon. He claimed they were retrieved through 'infiltration' and 'access to sources,' but offered no specifics or proof.
The announcement, which came days before Tehran is expected to face renewed diplomatic pressure over its own atomic activities appears to be aimed at countering a high-profile Israeli intelligence operation in 2018.
At the time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his agents had smuggled out a 'half-tonne' of documents from Iran concerning its nuclear programme.
The operation was cited by US President Donald Trump when he withdrew the US from the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran.
The latest Iranian claims come as the board of governors at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) prepares to meet this week, with Western nations reportedly planning to censure Iran over its failure to clarify long-standing questions about its nuclear activities.
Such a move could lead to the issue being referred to the UN Security Council and potentially trigger the reimposition of UN sanctions under the 'snapback' mechanism outlined in the 2015 deal.
Iran has signalled it will reject a US-backed proposal after five rounds of nuclear talks, raising concerns of a renewed crisis.
Tehran is currently enriching uranium up to 60% purity — just short of the 90% level needed for nuclear weapons — and has stockpiled enough material to build several bombs.
Without an agreement, analysts warn that Iran's already struggling economy could worsen further, potentially fuelling domestic unrest.
The risk of Israeli or US military action against Iranian nuclear sites also remains, amid fears that Tehran could sever cooperation with the IAEA and dash toward developing a nuclear weapon.
NATO members need to increase their air and missile defences by 400% to counter the threat from Russia, the head of the political and military alliance said on Monday, warning that Moscow could be ready to attack it within five years.
Secretary General Mark Rutte said during a visit to London that he expects all 32 NATO members to agree to a significant hike in military spending at a summit in the Netherlands later this month.
Speaking at the Chatham House think tank, Rutte said Russia is outpacing NATO in producing ammunition and the alliance must take a 'quantum leap" in collective defence.
"Wishful thinking will not keep us safe," Rutte said.
"We cannot dream away the danger. Hope is not a strategy. So NATO has to become a stronger, fairer and more lethal alliance."
Rutte has proposed a target of 3.5% of economic output for military spending and another 1.5% for "defence-related expenditure," such as roads, bridges, airfields and seaports.
He said he is confident the alliance will agree to the target at its summit in The Hague on 24-25 June.
At the moment, 22 of the 32 members meet or exceed NATO's current 2% target, which was set in 2014.
Rutte said he expects all to reach 2% by the end of this year.
The new target would meet a demand by US President Donald Trump that member states spend 5% of their gross domestic product on defence.
Trump has long questioned the value of NATO and complained that the US provides security to European countries that don't contribute enough.
Rutte said he agreed that "America has carried too much of the burden for too long."
Rutte said NATO needs thousands more armoured vehicles and millions more artillery shells, as well as a 400% increase in air and missile defence.
"We see in Ukraine how Russia delivers terror from above, so we will strengthen the shield that protects our skies," he said.
"Russia could be ready to use military force against NATO within five years," Rutte added. "We are all on the eastern flank now."
Rutte also held talks on Monday with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and praised the UK's commitment to increase defence spending as "very good stuff".
Starmer has pledged to boost military spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 and to 3% by 2034.
Like other NATO members, the UK has been reassessing its defence spending since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
European NATO countries, led by the UK and France, have scrambled to coordinate their defence positions as Trump transforms US foreign policy, seemingly side-lining Europe as he looks to end the war in Ukraine.
Last week the UK government said it would build new nuclear-powered attack submarines, prepare its army to fight a war in Europe and become "a battle-ready, armour-clad nation."
The plans represent the most sweeping changes to British defences since the collapse of the Soviet Union more than three decades ago.
A total of 27 were arrested in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday as thousands of protesters took to the streets in response to US President Donald Trump's ICE raids and deployment of National Guard troops.
At least 10 people were detained during scuffles between police officers and demonstrators in downtown Los Angeles, LAPD Police Chief Jim McDonnell said during a news conference Sunday evening local time.
Decrying the escalation of violence as "disgusting", McDonnell said Molotov cocktails, fireworks, rocks and other objects were being used to target officers.
"It's escalated now since the beginning of this incident," McDonnell said, calling the protests "increasingly worse and more violent."
Another 17 were arrested by the California Highway Patrol, clearing protesters from busy highways.
Separately, around 60 people were detained on Sunday in the city of San Francisco following a protest outside the Immigration Services building that turned violent.
Hundreds had gathered outside the building to rally against the agency's raids and deportations across California as ordered by the Trump administration.
The initially peaceful protest escalated into a tense standoff with San Francisco police officers wearing riot gear, according to local media reports.
Another 29 people were also apprehended on Saturday, adding to the tally of 56 arrested in Los Angeles over the weekend in connection with the protests.
Sunday's skirmishes in Los Angeles were sparked by protests that began on Friday after it emerged Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers were carrying out raids across the city in predominantly Hispanic neighbourhoods.
Trump has ramped up immigration raids during his tenure, asking federal agents last month to arrest 3,000 people a day. Under his directive, ICE officials are allowed to locate, detain and deport illegal immigrants living in the US.
Tensions escalated and protests became increasingly violent as demonstrators took to the streets in response to the deployment of some 300 National Guard soldiers, blocking off a major freeway and setting fire to self-driving cars. Police officers used tear gas, rubber bullets and flash bangs to try to quell the unrest.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has requested Trump remove the guard troops in a letter Sunday afternoon, calling their deployment a "serious breach of state sovereignty.'
His comments were echoed by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who said the escalation of violence on Sunday was "provoked" by the Trump administration's use of National Guard troops, who are typically deployed in exceptional circumstances.
In response, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said it is a "bald-faced lie for Newsom to claim there was no problem in Los Angeles before President Trump got involved."
Trump himself has insisted the troops are necessary and demanded that additional US Marine units be deployed to the area in response to the unrest.
"Looking really bad in LA. Bring in the troops," the US president posted on his Truth Social platform on Sunday.
About 500 US Marines are stationed at Twentynine Palms, close to Los Angeles, where they were in a 'prepared to deploy status' Sunday afternoon, according to the US Army Northern Command.