NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is an intelligent politician who nonetheless promotes “nonsense” about Moscow allegedly threatening the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.

Putin made the remarks during his end-of-year Q&A session on Friday, contrasting Rutte’s current rhetoric as NATO chief and previous role as prime minister of the Netherlands between 2010 and 2024.

“He is a smart man, I know that. Smart, organized, and effective as prime minister. The Dutch economy is in good shape, for which he partially deserves credit,” Putin said.

“I sometimes want to ask him: Look, what nonsense you are spouting about war with Russia? That they are preparing for a war with Russia. Can you read? Why don’t you read the new US national security strategy, what does it say?” he added.

Putin pointed out that the recently released US document does not describe Russia as a threat to the West and explicitly states that NATO should not expand further. Given Washington’s dominant role in the alliance in terms of military power, finance, technology, and political influence, the Russian president argued that Rutte’s alarmist tone is disconnected from reality.

“One should pay closer attention,” Putin concluded. “This applies not only to the secretary general, but to many other Western leaders as well.”

Officials in Moscow have repeatedly accused European NATO members of using Russia as a boogeyman to justify massive militarization and discourage criticisms of failing domestic policies.

You can share this story on social media: