Rutte urges the EU to make the 90 billion loan more flexible for Ukraine to buy weapons from the US

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has urged the European Union to give greater flexibility to Ukraine to use the 90 billion loan that member states will give kyiv to cover its financing needs in 2026 and 2027, allowing the purchase of weapons from the United States given that the EU cannot “even come close” to cover Ukrainian defense needs.

This was requested during his speech this Monday from Brussels in the Foreign Affairs and Security and Defense committees of the European Parliament, where he once again stressed the importance of the member states of the Atlantic Alliance raising their defense spending to 5% of their GDP.

Rutte has welcomed the loan that 24 EU countries will jointly grant to Ukraine, with an amount that amounts to 90,000 million euros, and for which the European Commission has proposed allocating two thirds – 60,000 million – for military spending with priority for purchasing from Ukrainian and European industry; and the remaining 30,000 million to cover other budgetary needs.

“The EU is doing vital work in this regard. The €90 billion loan package will make a huge difference to Ukraine’s security and prosperity, but here I strongly urge you to ensure flexibility in how these funds can be spent. And not to be too restrictive with the EU’s caveats,” he went on to say.

More specifically, he referred to the capabilities of the European defense industry, noting that although the EU is improving it with a variety of investments “at the moment it cannot provide anywhere near enough of what Ukraine needs to defend itself.”

“Therefore, in arranging this loan, I encourage you to keep Ukraine’s needs as a priority. Of course, I imagine that if you can buy it in Europe, great. If the basis is the Ukrainian defense industry, great. But we all know that without this flow of weapons from the United States, we cannot keep Ukraine in the fight. Literally, no,” he added.

He has given as an example that Washington is currently providing “essential” interceptors to shoot down “as many missiles as possible” of those falling on kyiv, Kharkiv and other cities “night after night.”

That said, Rutte highlighted that NATO and the EU “are now working side by side, both in Brussels and kyiv, to help Ukraine”, and stated that the coordination of military aid, the training of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the efforts to boost the Ukrainian defense industry “are very complementary.”

GREATER DEREGULATION IS URGENT

Rutte has once again defended the need for NATO States to increase their defense spending to 5% of their GDP, as agreed at the last Alliance summit held in 2025 in The Hague, while warning that “the era in which” Europe let the United States “assume much of the burden” of its security “is simply over.”

“It is fair that Europe and Canada assume greater responsibility for their own security, and the good news is that they are doing so,” said the former Dutch Prime Minister, also describing it as “crucial” that European defense becomes increasingly “more capable.”

To do this, in his opinion, the EU must promote “especially deregulation”, in order to be able to “really” focus on improving its defense capabilities. He has given NATO as an example, which has “demonstrated” its “effectiveness” in terms of “rules, structures and procedures.”

“My argument would be that we be practical and realistic when it comes to our security. We have to take advantage of our respective strengths, NATO and the EU even more,” concluded the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance.

DEFENSE OF THE EU WITHOUT THE US?: “KEEP DREAMING”

Immediately afterwards, after question time from the MEPs, Rutte defended the White House occupant, arguing that “he is doing many good things”, since, if it had not been for him, the NATO member states “would never” have increased their defense spending to 2% of their GDP.

“Do you really think that Spain, Italy, Belgium and Canada would have decided to go from 1.5% to 2%? Would they spend more now on defense at the beginning of the year without President Trump? No way, it wouldn’t have happened. And do you really think that in The Hague we would have reached the 5% commitment without President Trump? No way,” he maintained.

Rutte has insisted on his vindication of Trump, stressing that he will continue to praise him, even if this irritates “many”, compared to those who think that “the European Union or Europe as a whole can defend itself without the United States.” “Keep dreaming, you can’t, we need each other,” he concluded.