Rutte urges calm over Russian sabotage: failing to undermine support for Ukraine

NATO chief Mark Rutte on Tuesday called for “calm” over Russia’s sabotage campaign in Europe, saying it is failing to reduce support for Ukraine.

His comments come after Estonia became the latest country to officially blame Russia for such an incident, saying Moscow’s “special services” had ordered an arson attack on a defence firm in August.

“Russia continues its reckless campaign of hostile actions against NATO allies. It is trying to weaken our resolve and stop our support for Ukraine. But Russia is failing. It is failing on the battlefield in Ukraine and it is failing to undermine our unity and support for Ukraine,” Rutte told reporters.

European governments say Moscow is escalating a campaign of sabotage and interference against Ukraine’s supporters, while Kremlin troops fight on the front line there, more than four years after their invasion in February 2022.

The incident in Estonia came shortly after the discovery of a drone packed with explosives at an airport in Russia, which Berlin blamed on Moscow.

Rutte acknowledged that Russia’s activities “can have an impact and sometimes they do have an impact, obviously”.

But he called on NATO countries to stay “calm, carry on and support Ukraine”.

“We should not be naive about Russia, but they know that we are stronger,” Rutte said.

Speaking alongside the NATO chief, Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius said intelligence services had no evidence that Moscow was immediately preparing something bigger.

“It is essential to say whether there is a threat to society, but you cannot exaggerate and say that something is happening in the coming months or weeks,” he said.