The first speech by NATO’s new secretary-general, Mark Rutte, on December 12 was ominous for more than one reason. The obvious one was what Rutte explicitly wanted to tell us. He said we are “not yet at war but definitely no longer at peace.

NATO head Mark Rutte warned the US-led transatlantic alliance on Thursday that it was not ready for the threats it would face from Russia in the coming years and called for a shift to a wartime mindset - with much higher defense spending.

"We’re as close as we’ve been to war with Russia since the Second World War [and] we announce a half billion cut in our conventional defence. It was the lack of conventional defence that encouraged Putin to invade Ukraine in the first place", he said.

NATO’s secretary-general says he wants to discuss ways to put Ukraine in a position of strength for any future peace talks with Russia during a meeting Wednesday with Ukraine’s president and a small number of European leaders.

New NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte warned Europe Thursday that Russia's Vladimir Putin wants to "wipe Ukraine off the map" and might come for other parts of Europe next. "It is time to shift to a wartime mindset," Rutte said at the Carnegie Europe think tank in Brussels, in his first major speech since taking NATO's helm in October.

Nato chief Mark Rutte issued a stark warning on Dec 12 to “turbocharge” defence spending, saying European nations were not prepared for the threat of future war with Russia. “We are not ready for what is coming our way in four to five years,

Governments need to make more orders and defense contractors have to take more risks, NATO’s secretary-general said.

Italy's cabinet on Monday passed a law decree that allows it to continue supplying until the end of 2025 "means, materials and equipment" to Ukraine to support its war effort against Russia, a government statement said.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said he wants to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about how to get his country "into a position of strength" amid public speculation about a future ceasefire deal with Russia.

Zelensky warns of greater military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang, including sending more troops and military equipment

NATO's secretary-general Mark Rutte has said he wants to discuss ways to put Ukraine in a position of strength for any future peace talks with Russia.