RT-Engels: 23-12-2025,
Boris Pistorius has contradicted the bloc’s chief, Mark Rutte, who earlier claimed that Western Europe is Russia’s “next target”
Russian President Vladimir Putin does not want to engage in a direct conflict with NATO, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has said.
NATO chief Mark Rutte claimed earlier this month that “we are Russia’s next target” once the Ukraine conflict ends. He suggested that Moscow “could be ready to use military force against NATO within five years,” urging member states to ramp up military spending as soon as possible.
When asked about Rutte’s comments during an interview with Die Zeit newspaper on Monday, Pistorius replied: “I don’t believe in such a scenario.”
“In my estimation, Putin is not interested in waging a full-scale world war against NATO. He wants to destroy NATO from within… by undermining its unity,” he claimed.
According to Pistorius, Moscow is also “strategically working to get the Americans to withdraw” from Europe.
During his end-of-year Q&A session last week, Putin said he knew Rutte as a “smart man” from his time as the Dutch prime minister, but added that “I sometimes want to ask him: What nonsense are you spouting about war with Russia?”
“They are preparing for a war with Russia. Can you read? Why don’t you read the new US national security strategy,