‘This Is Not the Time to Go It Alone,’ NATO’s Rutte Tells US and Europe

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks during join press conference with Poland's Prime Minister after their meeting in Warsaw, Poland, on March 26, 2025. (AFP)
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks during join press conference with Poland's Prime Minister after their meeting in Warsaw, Poland, on March 26, 2025. (AFP)
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‘This Is Not the Time to Go It Alone,’ NATO’s Rutte Tells US and Europe

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks during join press conference with Poland's Prime Minister after their meeting in Warsaw, Poland, on March 26, 2025. (AFP)
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks during join press conference with Poland's Prime Minister after their meeting in Warsaw, Poland, on March 26, 2025. (AFP)

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte warned the United States and Europe on Wednesday against any temptation to "go it alone" on security, amid increased tensions over the future of the transatlantic alliance.

US President Donald Trump recently cast doubt on Washington's willingness to defend NATO allies it deemed were not paying enough for their own defense, triggering alarm among European leaders about the future of the Atlantic alliance as they face up to a more assertive Russia.

Speaking at the Warsaw School of Economics, Rutte said the US needed European countries to "step up" on security and that the alliance must become fairer.

"Let me be absolutely clear, this is not the time to go it alone. Not for Europe or North America," Rutte said.

"The global security challenges are too great for any of us to face on our own. When it comes to keeping Europe and North America safe, there is no alternative to NATO," he added.

A number of European countries including Germany and Britain have announced plans to hike defense spending as Trump seeks a rapprochement with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in his efforts to end the three-year-old Ukraine war.

Trump has previously said members of the NATO alliance should spend 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) on defense – a significant increase from the current 2% target and a level that no NATO country, including the United States, currently meets.

"Yes, Europe needs to know that Uncle Sam still has our back. But America also needs to know that its NATO allies will step up," Rutte said, adding that the alliance's June summit in The Hague would prove a seminal moment in its history.

"We will begin a new chapter for our transatlantic alliance, where we build a stronger, fairer and more lethal NATO," the former Dutch prime minister said. "A fairer NATO means all allies doing their fair share."



Taiwan Deploys Advanced US HIMARS Rockets in Annual Drills

FILE PHOTO: The Taiwanese military conducts its first High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) live-fire test launch at the Jiupeng base in Pingtung, Taiwan May 12, 2025. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The Taiwanese military conducts its first High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) live-fire test launch at the Jiupeng base in Pingtung, Taiwan May 12, 2025. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo
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Taiwan Deploys Advanced US HIMARS Rockets in Annual Drills

FILE PHOTO: The Taiwanese military conducts its first High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) live-fire test launch at the Jiupeng base in Pingtung, Taiwan May 12, 2025. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The Taiwanese military conducts its first High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) live-fire test launch at the Jiupeng base in Pingtung, Taiwan May 12, 2025. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo

Taiwan's military began deploying one of its newest and most precise strike weapons on Saturday, ahead of live-fire drills meant to showcase the island's determination to resist any Chinese invasion.

Two armored trucks with HIMARS - High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems - were seen maneuvering around the city of Taichung near Taiwan's central coast on the fourth of 10 days of its most comprehensive annual exercises yet, Reuters reported.

The live-fire portion of the Han Kuang drills is expected next week.

In wartime, said Colonel Chen Lian-jia, a military spokesperson, it would be vital to conceal HIMARS from enemy aerial reconnaissance, satellites "or even enemy operatives behind our lines" until the order to fire was given.

China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own and has intensified military pressure around the island over the last five years, staging a string of intense war games and daily naval and air force patrols around the territory.

Taiwan rejects China's sovereignty claims, with President Lai Ching-te saying only Taiwan's people can decide their future.

China's defense ministry said this week the Han Kuang drills were "nothing but a bluff" while its foreign ministry said its opposition to US-Taiwan military ties was "consistent and very firm".

Regional military attaches say the HIMARS deployment in a warlike exercise will be closely watched, given that they have been used extensively by Ukraine against Russian forces. Australia has also purchased the Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) systems. Taiwan took delivery last year of the first 11 of 29 HIMARS units, testing them for the first time in May. With a range of about 300 km (190 miles), the weapons could strike coastal targets in China's southern province of Fujian on the other side of the Taiwan Strait.

Taiwanese military analysts say the weapon would be used with its locally developed Thunderbolt 2000 launchers so Chinese forces could be targeted as they left port or attempted to land on Taiwan's coast. A Thunderbolt unit was also seen in a park near the HIMARS units.

Senior Taiwanese military officials say the Han Kuang drills are unscripted and designed to replicate full combat conditions, starting with simulated enemy attacks on communications and command systems, leading to a full-blown invasion scenario.

The drills aim to show China and the international community, including Taiwan's key weapons supplier the US, that Taiwan is determined to defend itself against any Chinese attack or invasion, the officials say.