Brussels – NATO will go ahead with anti-drone defence systems, and in this, “there will be no duplication” or overlap with the European Union. The Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance, Mark Rutte, flaunts confidence and determination. At the end of the defence ministers’ meeting, he speaks to the press, but it is to Russia that he actually addresses himself. The entire work of the organisation revolves around Moscow and its work, in keeping with a mission and vocation that has never been lost, not even after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
He does not go into the merits of a de facto plan that has been devised; he does not want to offer advantages to the enemy, but Rutte makes it clear without mincing words that NATO will “put in place a series of additional anti-drone measures that will strengthen, extend, and accelerate our ability to counter this threat.” No time is wasted, as “test systems” appear to be in operation as Rutte himself speaks to reporters. “Innovation and adaptation are part of NATO’s DNA,” recalls the Secretary General of the organisation, who assures that “we will continue to learn from our cooperation with Ukraine, accelerate our innovation, and strengthen our collaboration with the private sector.”
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte [Brussels, 15 October 2025]
The strategy agreed upon with the allies includes developing new systems through “rigorous and repeated cycles of testing, trials, and exercises,” and adding joint procurement mechanisms to facilitate rapid access to the most effective technologies. In the perennial and now renewed challenge to Moscow, Rutte thanks and pokes Russian President Putin. The violations of European airspace by unmanned aircraft “have highlighted the effectiveness of our deterrence and defence posture, while providing further impetus to improve it.”
Armed defence and non-expansionist presence
In the logic of confrontation and clash, the narrative is automatically remodelled and reshaped, and NATO’s secretary general displays great rhetorical skill in his choice of language that is certainly propaganda—or counter-propaganda—but nevertheless well-chosen. In the meantime, he tries to reassure by explaining that “NATO is a defence alliance and will remain a defence alliance,” but then adds that it will, however, arm itself. The defence ministers of the 32 allies “reiterated that they are increasing defence investment, enhancing defence production and intensifying” support for Ukraine. Hence, onwards with armed and enhanced defence.
Then there is the question of presence on the entire international chessboard. Rutte has already said that NATO has no intention of expanding in the south-eastern quadrant but has friends there, and that is enough to make it clear that we will stand by, ready to intervene. “We must not see Atlantic and Indo-Pacific as isolated sides,” but as interconnected. Rutte believes that “if China wanted to attack Taiwan, Russia would be forced to attack on another front. Words that show how NATO lives on “who goes there”, in a state of perpetual alert, and for that it wants to be ready.
Ukraine, Europeans must buy from the US
Finally, the Ukrainian chapter. NATO defence ministers reiterate their willingness to continue to support Kyiv, but this support inevitably passes through the White House, the Pentagon, and the Stars and Stripes industry. “Many air defence systems have already been supplied to Ukraine; now there are technologies that only the US can supply, such as interceptors for Patriot systems,” Rutte said bluntly. This implies that Europeans must purchase them to give to Ukraine, and that EU NATO members need to divert purchases from their own industries, contrary to the desire to stimulate European heavy industry.
The US has resumed providing essential lethal and non-lethal military support to Ukraine, financed by the Allies, with already two billion dollars committed. To date, Rutte points out, “more than half the NATO member states have joined” the PURL Initiative, the special programme that allows allies to finance the supply of US military equipment essential for Ukraine’s defence. Good news for Kyiv, indeed, and for its president Volodymir Zelenski, who will meet US President Donald Trump on Friday to try to define the future scenario of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and, hopefully, post-conflict and peace conditions.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
