NATO prepares contracts worth tens of billions of dollars, Rutte warns of major defense investments

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced that the alliance plans to unveil new defense contracts worth tens of billions of dollars at next month’s summit in Ankara.

This step comes at a time when member states are intensifying efforts to increase military production and strengthen joint defense capabilities.

Speaking at the Atlantic Council’s “Front Page” event in Washington, Rutte said NATO needs to use its economic power more efficiently to turn it into greater military capabilities, amid mounting challenges to global security.

“We must ensure that our economic power is being transformed into military capabilities. This requires greater coordination between defense industries on both sides of the Atlantic, reducing bureaucratic obstacles, and placing innovation at the center of the development of the defense sector across the alliance,” Mark Rutte said.

He also stressed that the NATO summit, scheduled to take place on July 7 and 8 in Ankara, will be the venue where progress made in industrial cooperation and in expanding production capacity will be presented.

The head of NATO also reaffirmed the alliance’s commitment to Ukraine, while announcing that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will take part in the Ankara summit.

“President Zelensky will be with us in Ankara. We want to show him and the Ukrainian people that our support remains unwavering, and also make it clear to President Putin that NATO will not back down,” Rutte said.