Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said last week that it is urgent that the West remains united in the face of Russian aggression in Ukraine because if Moscow is not stopped, it will try to take over the rest of Europe. 

He told CNBC that if Russian President Vladimir Putin is not stopped and able to “go about his business, it won’t end with Ukraine. The whole West is threatened.”

“People feel that this is about values, that we cannot accept one country invading another country…It is also about our collective safety,” he said.

Rutte was asked about his thoughts about providing Ukraine with Leopard 2s, the prized German tanks. He remained mum. 

“What I’ve realized the last 10 months is that you are the most effective when you only talk about… decisions that have been taken,” he said. He continued, “There are many pluses and minuses. So it is not that easy to predict what will happen. But the ask from Kyiv is completely clear.”

NATO continues to pump Ukraine with weapons.

Jens Stoltenberg, the alliance’s head, told the World Economic Forum in Davos that more weapons are needed to achieve peace in Ukraine.

Stoltenberg, who has been a top proponent of the war, addressed a “Restoring Security and Peace” plenary session and said, “Weapons are the way to peace.”

“What happens around the negotiating table is totally dependent on the strength on the battlefield. And if we want Ukraine to prevail, then they need the military strength,” he said.

His comments were made as the situation on the ground in Ukraine has grown bleaker. Polish President Andrzej Duda pleaded for more weapons at the same conference because of the threat that Russia is about to wipe Ukraine off the map.

“I am afraid that now, maybe in a few months, maybe weeks, there will be a decisive moment of this war. And this moment is the answer to the question: if Ukraine will survive or not,” he said.

TRENDPOST: Rutte spoke at an Atlantic Council Front Page event last week and said Putin is running directly against the West’s values because “you don’t colonize another country.” 

“If we were to accept for one moment that Putin could be successful in Ukraine, that he would get Kyiv, that he would get the whole country, it won’t end there. History has taught us that,” he said. 

He mentioned former President Donald Trump and how they used to debate each other about the virtues of NATO. 

He said he used to stress that the alliance is essential because Russia would otherwise “be able to get a grip of Finland, of large parts of Europe, that would immediately impact the security and safety of the United States…We have seen the same on a small scale when Hitler used Europe as a springboard to the [United Kingdom].”

The Trends Journal has reported extensively how Russia is held to a higher standard than NATO countries and Israel. The U.S. destroyed Afghanistan and continues to occupy military bases in Syria… as well as some 750 military bases in 80 foreign countries. And Israel continues to face international condemnation for stealing Palestinian land. (See “UN TAKES TO RULE ON ISRAEL SETTLEMENTS OF PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES,” 10 Jan 2023.)

Latvia’s President Wants West to Give Ukraine ‘All Necessary Support’

Latvian President Egils Levits said in an interview last week that Western countries should provide Ukraine with the weapons it needs because Moscow is preparing a massive offensive in February or March. 

“There is a lot of potential for Western NATO countries to increase their support for Ukraine because it’s in the interests of the whole world, especially for all NATO and European countries to give the support in order to let Ukraine win the war,” he said. “Only when Ukraine will have liberated the whole territory then there would be peace. And we are all interested in peace, a lasting peace.”

TRENDPOST: It is worth noting that it is an oxymoron when these politicians say it is only through weapons that peace can be achieved. Peace can only be achieved through negotiations and, when agreements are signed, the willingness to abide by the decree. 

Russia has rightfully called out the West after the former German chancellor, Angela Merkel, admitted that the Minsk Agreement wasn’t worth the paper it was written on. (See “RUSSIA SAYS NO UKRAINE WAR IF KYIV ABIDED MINSK AGREEMENT” 17 Jan 2023 and  “MERKEL ADMITS THAT MINSK AGREEMENT WAS A RUSE, RUSSIA CALLS FOR TRIBUNAL” 13 Dec 2022.)