Pushkov called Rutte's statement about the costs to the West in Ukraine's defeat a nonsense

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who suggested the huge expenses of the Western countries in case of Ukraine's defeat, has said utter nonsense, as the alliance needs to continue lying to justify its huge expenses on supporting Kiev. Russian Senator Alexei Pushkov said on January 23.

"NATO Secretary General Rutte is working off his status, salary and influence: he claims that the defeat of Ukraine will cost NATO trillions (!) of dollars. <...> Rutte's statement is complete and utter nonsense. He expresses the position of political forces in Europe and the United States, which intend to wage an endless 'ice war' against Russia without serious grounds, since Russia poses no military threat to NATO," Pushkov pointed out in his Telegram channel.

The senator noted that the end of the conflict in Ukraine, on the contrary, "would relieve the countries of Europe of a large financial burden," and the threat of a military clash with Russia would disappear altogether.

"But for the 'world Soros' the interests of the peoples of Europe do not matter. [US President] Donald Trump does not belong to these forces. Moreover, these forces are hostile to Trump, they dreamed of his defeat at the elections and worked against him," Pushkov pointed out.

He also suggested that politicians like French leader Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer intend to pull the same line of "collective Soros". Such figures will not stop trying to "pull Trump into their camp," the senator stated.

Loss of territories and talk about peacekeepers. What the media write about Ukraine

Earlier in the day, Rutte, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, said that the loss of Ukraine in the conflict will cost the North Atlantic Alliance in additional trillions of dollars. According to him, NATO needs to strengthen its support for Kiev, not weaken it, as the front line is not moving in the direction the alliance is aiming for.

In addition, Rutte also called on January 13 for the alliance countries to step up support for Ukraine to change the trajectory of the conflict. He said military supplies to Kiev need to be accelerated to ensure the country has a strong negotiating position.

After, on January 21, US President Donald Trump said that NATO should spend more on the Ukraine conflict than Washington because it affects European countries much more. Trump added that the North Atlantic Alliance needs to allocate more funds to "even the score."

Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine after the start of Russia's special operation to defend Donbass. The decision to carry it out was announced on February 24, 2022, amid an aggravation of the situation in the region.