Russian president Vladimir Putin will help China invade Taiwan by attacking a nation in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in order to distract Europe, Nato secretary general Mark Rutte warned.
The former prime minister of the Netherlands was answering a question on the defence commitments of US president Donald Trump, especially to the world and in the Indo-Pacific, at a time when the Republican leader has made a push for “America First” priorities on the domestic and international stage.
“There’s an increasing realisation, and let’s not be naïve about this: If Xi Jinping would attack Taiwan, he would first make sure that he makes a call to his very junior partner in all of this, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, residing in Moscow, and telling him, ‘Hey, I’m going to do this, and I need you to to keep them busy in Europe by attacking Nato territory’,” Mr Rutte told the New York Times in an interview on the sidelines of the Nato summit in Brussels last month.
