NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the military alliance had surpassed Russia in ammunition production. He said member countries are opening a series of new lines and expanding existing factories, helping output reach the highest level in decades.
Speaking at the NATO industrial forum in Bucharest (Romania) on November 6, Mr. Rutte assessed that member countries have committed to increasing defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035. He said that increase was still not enough to deal with what he described as a "threat from Russia".
Russia has denied the allegations. Moscow has repeatedly affirmed that it has no intention of attacking any NATO member state and considered the Western statement "unreasonable", to justify increased defense spending.
According to Mr. Rutte, NATO is "reversing the situation of ammunition" by opening dozens of more production lines and upgrading existing facilities. He emphasized that the alliance needs to continue to promote air defense capabilities and develop a drone interception system.
Mr. Rutte himself had previously admitted that Russia had a superiority over NATO in ammunition production speed. A few months ago, he told the press that Russia produced three times more artillery shells in three months than NATO's annual output.
Russia has sharply increased defense spending since the escalation of the Ukrainian conflict. President Vladimir Putin said that the production of some weapons has increased by nearly 30 times. He cited the figure of 13.5 trillion rubles spent by Russia on defense, equivalent to about 6.3% of GDP, and acknowledged that this spending put pressure on inflation. He noted that the US has spent more in previous wars.
Moscow has accused the West of pursuing a "reckless mediocrization" trend and said that no military aid to Kiev could change the situation, only prolonging the conflict.
