Sikorski: Arms race could topple Putin's regime
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski argues that a new arms race could lead to the collapse of Russian President Vladimir Putin's "regime," just as the Soviet Union was defeated.
"He himself once said the Soviet Union collapsed because it spent too much on armaments, and now he's doing the exact same thing," Sikorski told a group of journalists on June 26, a day after the NATO summit in The Hague, according to Calea Europeană.
At the NATO summit in The Hague the previous day, leaders of Alliance member countries agreed to annually invest 5% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in security by 2035, aligning with demands from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Leaders of the 32 NATO member states, meeting in The Hague on the North Sea coast, reaffirmed their commitment to Article 5 of the NATO Treaty, which states that an attack on one is an attack on all. They also pledged to "annually invest 5% of GDP in defense (…) by 2035" amid profound security challenges, especially "the long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security."
The compromise reached by NATO stipulates that allies will allocate "at least 3.5% of GDP" for strict military investments, with an additional 1.5% for broader security, including "the protection of critical infrastructure" and the defense of "networks."
"He's waging an extremely costly war, and at the same time, he's provoked and alarmed the entire West to such an extent that it's strengthening its defense spending… Putin will have to squeeze even more funds for defense. We hope for a similar, but faster, outcome for his regime (to that of the Soviet Union)," Radoslaw Sikorski added.
The Polish Foreign Minister took a similar stance at the NATO Public Forum, where he asserted that Vladimir Putin had awakened "a giant" – a Europe of defense – emphasizing that Europeans don't need to be as good as Americans, but rather "better than the Russians."
Translation by Iurie Tataru
