Russia secures ammunition production race over NATO
(MENAFN)
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has raised concerns over Russia’s rapidly expanding military production, warning that Moscow is significantly outpacing the alliance in ammunition output. In an interview with The New York Times on Saturday, Rutte emphasized that Russia is replenishing its military capabilities at a rate “unmatched in recent history,” producing three times more ammunition in just three months than NATO can in a year.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has raised concerns over Russia’s rapidly expanding military production, warning that Moscow is significantly outpacing the alliance in ammunition output. In an interview with The New York Times on Saturday, Rutte emphasized that Russia is replenishing its military capabilities at a rate “unmatched in recent history,” producing three times more ammunition in just three months than NATO can in a year.
To address the gap, Rutte highlighted a proposal to increase NATO defense spending to 5% of member nations’ GDP – a plan championed by US President Donald Trump. Of this, 3.5% would fund core military capabilities, while 1.5% would support cyber defense and civil preparedness. “Yes, it’s a huge commitment, but if we don’t act, we’ll have to learn Russian,” Rutte warned.
When asked if such spending could escalate tensions into an arms race, Rutte insisted that the priority is deterrence. He expressed particular concern over NATO’s insufficient industrial capacity to manufacture the necessary weapons to counter threats from countries like Russia and North Korea.
His remarks follow increasing speculation in the West that Moscow may eventually target NATO nations. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly dismissed such claims as baseless, insisting Russia has no interest in attacking NATO.
Amid ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Russia has massively increased its defense spending. President Putin recently claimed that ammunition production has grown fourteenfold, drones fourfold, and armored vehicle output has tripled since the start of hostilities. He also said Russia now produces ten times more missiles than all NATO members combined.
Putin revealed that Russia is allocating 13.5 trillion rubles (roughly $151 billion), or 6.3% of its GDP, to defense this year – a figure he admitted is high and inflationary. However, he noted that during previous US wars, Washington spent even larger proportions of GDP, such as 14% during the Korean War and 10% during Vietnam.
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