Rutte: Europe is 'far from holy' due to imported Russian gas

EU hyperreaction to energy deal

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated that 'panic' is being observed in Europe over the energy agreement between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

According to the alliance's leader, Europe is 'far from holy'. He reminded that European countries had previously purchased huge volumes of liquefied natural gas from Russia.

“Набагато більше, ніж коли-небудь може дати ця дизельна угода» (Far more than this diesel deal could ever provide), Rutte assessed the volumes of past LNG supplies.

Risks of ending the war

Commenting on the situation in Ukraine, Rutte emphasised that the end of hostilities would create a serious threat from the Russian army for Europe.

“Зараз російська загроза не відчувається прямо біля наших кордонів, бо багато з цих солдатів зайняті в Україні. Але якщо конфлікт закінчиться, їхня величезна армія не буде просто стояти на місці» (Right now, the Russian threat is not felt right at our borders, because many of these soldiers are engaged in Ukraine. But if the conflict ends, their huge army will not just stand still), the NATO Secretary General explained.

The path to a peace treaty

At the same time, Rutte added: “Ми мріємо про той час, коли все це завершиться» (We dream of the time when all of this ends).

In his view, such wars “завжди закінчуються мирною угодою, яка зазвичай являє собою певний компроміс» (always end with a peace deal, which usually involves some kind of compromise).

Rutte's remarks are cited by Bloomberg.