NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte issued the horrifying warning that Russian missiles could hit London or Madrid in just five minutes. He argued that western European cities are no safer than those on the alliance’s eastern flank. Mr Rutte explained that Moscow’s newest missiles travel at five times the speed of sound, meaning the journey to Britain could take between five and 10 minutes.
This is not much longer than would be needed to hit Tallinn in Estonia or Vilnius in Lithuania. He said: “Of course, the problem is, this is about the eastern flank, because here is a direct threat to the eastern flank from, for example, drones or whatever, could threaten our allies on the eastern flank.
“But more generally speaking, you know, I don’t like that whole eastern flank thinking, because it gives the impression that if I live in Madrid or in London, I am safer than when I live in Tallinn.
“So, in that sense, let’s agree that within this Alliance of 32 countries, we all live on the eastern flank.”
This comes after NATO fighter jets were scrambled when Russia entered Polish airspace on Wednesday as the alliance activated Article 4 of its treaty.
The move triggered a discussion among the members of the military alliance about the incident. Poland, a NATO member state, has branded the presence of Russian drones in its airspace an “act of aggression”.
In a statement shared on the social media platform X, the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces said it had detected overnight drones in its airspace as a result of an intense Russian attack on Ukraine.
UK Defence Secretary John Healey warned Vladimir Putin is “testing” the West – but Ukrainian allies will stand together and “firm” against his threats.
He said: “Together, we the E5 totally condemn these attacks. Russia’s actions are reckless, they’re dangerous, they’re unprecedented. We see what Putin is doing. Yet again he is testing us. Yet again we will stand firm.”