NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

Mark Rutte warns Britain to boost defence or ‘learn to speak Russian’

Daily Telegraph UK
9 Jun, 2025 10:05 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Mark Rutte, the Nato Secretary-General, warned that Russia could attack the security alliance by 2030. Photo / Getty Images

Mark Rutte, the Nato Secretary-General, warned that Russia could attack the security alliance by 2030. Photo / Getty Images

People in Britain had “better learn to speak Russian” if the Government does not ramp up defence spending, Nato chief Mark Rutte has suggested.

Asked by the Telegraph if Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves should increase taxes to fund a defence budget of 5% of GDP, Rutte said that Nato members “better learn to speak Russian” if they could not commit to more spending.

“If you do not go to the 5%, including the 3.5% for defence spending, you could still have the NHS … the pension system, but you better learn to speak Russian. That’s the consequence,” Nato’s secretary-general said after a speech in London.

Rutte, who met the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in Downing Street today NZT, also warned that Russia could attack Nato by 2030.

The Nato secretary-general has for weeks been pressuring allies to boost spending on defence and security to a combined 5% in order to placate United States President Donald Trump, who has threatened to withdraw American troops from Europe.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Rutte was speaking hours after Russia launched its largest-ever drone attack against Ukraine, triggering Nato to scramble jets in Poland.

“We see in Ukraine how Russia delivers terror from above, so we will strengthen the shield that protects our skies,” Rutte said.

He added that Nato needs “a 400% increase in air and missile defence” to maintain credible deterrence and defence.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

“The fact is, we need a quantum leap in our collective defence,” he said.

He said “we are all on the eastern flank”, referring to the border with Russia, adding that the distance between European capitals is “only a few minutes” for Russian missiles.

Last week, as part of the Strategic Defence Review, the Prime Minister pledged to spend 3% of GDP on defence by the end of the next Parliament.

However, less than 24 hours later, Nato said the figure would have to rise to a minimum of 3.5%, which Starmer has agreed to without confirming how this will be achieved.

Starmer will be under renewed pressure to explain how this uplift will be funded before the Chancellor’s spending review on Thursday NZT.

Defence Secretary John Healey has previously refused to rule out tax rises to fund an increase in defence spending.

One of the central messages from Rutte’s speech in London was that alliance members had to boost capabilities. He argued that Nato armies needed “thousands more armoured vehicles and tanks”.

“Russia produces in three months what the whole of Nato produces in a year,” he said.

That was followed by another stark warning: “Russia could be using military force against Nato in five years”.

‘Devastating consequences’

But Rutte also conceded that Putin knows an attack on Nato would carry “devastating consequences”.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

“We are deadly serious that if anyone tries to attack us, the consequences of that attack would be devastating, be it Russia or anyone else,” he said.

“This is not only about money and weaponry but mentality. We do realise there is a lot at stake here. The people trying to act against us must understand that.”

Rutte warned that China is developing its military power at breakneck speed.

“The main long-term threat against Nato is Russia. There’s no doubt. But there is more than Russia. Nato was never established only to fight the Soviet Union,” he said.

“It was about protecting Nato from anyone who wants to attack us. What you see in China is an enormous build up of their military.”

Taking questions after his speech, Rutte insisted that the US remained committed to Nato.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

However, he also admitted that the US had carried “too much of the burden” in propping up the alliance as he urged Europe and Canada to spend more on defence.

“American allies have broad shoulders. Europe and Canada will do more for our shared security. That will be backed by America’s rock-solid commitment to Nato,” he told the audience at Chatham House.

As Rutte was speaking, Canada announced it would pour extra billions into its armed forces and hit Nato’s spending target five years earlier than promised.

Canada has been under pressure from the US and other Nato allies for years to increase military funding. Canada currently spends about 1.4% of GDP on defence.

“Now is the time to act with urgency, force, and determination,” Mark Carney, the Canadian Prime Minister, said in a speech in Toronto, reiterating promises to work more closely with Europe’s defence industry.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

Premium
World

Study links social media use to rise in depression among preteens

11 Jun 11:09 PM
World

WA housing crisis: 210,000 call homes unaffordable as rents soar

11 Jun 10:42 PM
WorldUpdated

Musk: I apologise for some of my Trump posts

11 Jun 10:35 PM

Clean water fuelling Pacific futures

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

Premium
Study links social media use to rise in depression among preteens

Study links social media use to rise in depression among preteens

11 Jun 11:09 PM

Social media's impact on the mental health of young people progresses over the years.

WA housing crisis: 210,000 call homes unaffordable as rents soar

WA housing crisis: 210,000 call homes unaffordable as rents soar

11 Jun 10:42 PM
Musk: I apologise for some of my Trump posts

Musk: I apologise for some of my Trump posts

11 Jun 10:35 PM
Police investigating after two bodies found at Sydney property

Police investigating after two bodies found at Sydney property

11 Jun 10:21 PM
It was just a stopover – 18 months later, they call it home
sponsored

It was just a stopover – 18 months later, they call it home

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP