Mark Rutte has voiced strong support for war-torn Ukraine after taking over from Jens Stoltenberg as NATO secretary general on Tuesday, just weeks before the US presidential elections, Reuters reported. Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister, said he was not worried about the upcoming November 5 polls as he could work with former President Donald Trump, who has been critical of NATO, or Vice President Kamala Harris.


"I worked for four years with Donald Trump. He was the one pushing us to spend more (on defence), and he achieved - because ... we are now at a much higher spending level than we were when he took office," Rutte said. Praising Harris, Rutte said she had a "fantastic record as vice president" and was a "highly respected leader".


Talking on the Russia-Ukraine war, he said the situation on the battlefield was "difficult" and Russia had made "limited" gains this year but at a high cost. He said he had seen estimates that 1,000 Russian soldiers were recently being killed or wounded every day.


"We have to make sure that Ukraine prevails as a sovereign, independent, democratic nation," he said.


Three Main Priorities


Rutte said his three priorities right now are to make sure NATO has the capabilities to protect against any threat, support Ukraine and address global challenges by working with partners near and far.


"The first is to keep NATO strong and ensure our defences remain effective and credible, against all threats...My second priority is to step up our support for Ukraine and bring it ever closer to NATO, because there can be no lasting security in Europe without a strong, independent Ukraine...third priority is to strengthen our partnerships in a more interconnected world," Rutte said.


His key tasks will be to persuade NATO members to come up with the extra troops, weapons and spending to fully realise the new defence plans, diplomats and analysts say. NATO members provide the vast majority of weapons and ammunition supplied to Ukraine. 
Rutte was welcomed to NATO Headquarters in Brussels by Stoltenberg, whose term ends after ten years.