Mark Rutte: China Can Pit Russia Against NATO

• 5.07.2025, 21:03

The Alliance chief called this scenario "one of the more likely ones."

China may force Russia to attack NATO countries to divert the bloc's attention from the Asia-Pacific region. If Beijing is going to attack Taiwan, it is very likely to use Russia to attack Europe.

The New York Times told NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in an interview with the American publication The New York Times.

Rutte explained that the United States, while performing the task of defending NATO territory in Europe, is defending its own positions in Asia. The U.S., he said, cannot be safe unless the Atlantic, Europe and the Arctic are protected.

The NATO secretary-general suggested that China could use Russia to divert U.S. attention in Europe to pursue a takeover of Taiwan. Rutte believes that Americans and Europeans should not be "naive in this regard."

"If Xi Jinping were to attack Taiwan, he would first call his junior partner in all of this, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, who lives in Moscow, and tell him, 'Hey, I'm going to do this, and I need you to occupy them in Europe by attacking NATO territory,'" he explained.

Rutte believes this scenario is one of the most likely in the future.