Let's not take Russia too seriously! - NATO's Rutte claims 'Putin is listening', hints at alliance involvement in Moldova

Let's not take Russia too seriously! - NATO's Rutte claims 'Putin is listening', hints at alliance involvement in Moldova

"NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Russia should not be taken 'too seriously' - but warned that Putin was listening as he hinted at alliance involvement in Moldova - following the meeting of defence ministers in Brussels on Wednesday. "Let's not take the Russians too seriously," he told reporters. "Then your question could be, but then why do you need to spend more on defence? Because if you have a dictator willing to sacrifice one million people in the war in Ukraine this year only gaining very incremental successes in in Donbass, I think below one percent or half a percent of territory, if you're willing to do that you have to be sure that you are well-prepared for that guy if he moves against NATO. If he would do that." He was asked "what NATO can do for its partner, Republic of Moldova" and responded that he was an 'admirer' of President Maia Sandu. "Wherever she feels that we can be of help we try to help, and that can be NATO as a whole, it can be individual allies stepping up but also here.." he began, before stopping himself. "Let me not go into too many details because we are a democracy. This is an open press conference. I know that Vladimir Putin always tunes in to these moments, listening to what I'm saying, so I don't want to make him too wise." Elections to the Moldovan parliament took place on September 28. Sandu's Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) secured a narrow majority with 50.2 per cent of the vote, while opposition parties received 49.8 per cent."