"Do you know the difference between Vilnius and Valencia? Five minutes". Rutte assesses the threat to Southern Europe

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is convinced that the threat of Russian aggression exists not only for the states bordering and neighboring Russia, but also for the countries of Southern Europe. He expressed this opinion in an interview with the Spanish edition of El Pais.

Rutte was asked whether he believes that all NATO countries, including those far from the battlefield in Ukraine, such as Spain, Italy and Portugal, feel the same threat as the Baltic States.

"Do you know the difference between Vilnius and Valencia? Five minutes. There are five minutes between Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, and Valencia, a very beautiful city in Spain. That's exactly how long it takes one of the new Russian missiles to reach Spain," said the Alliance Secretary General.

He added that these missiles reach speeds five times the speed of sound. Rutte clarified that they cannot be neutralized by conventional interceptors.

"So even if you think that Lithuania is on the eastern flank, and you are safe somewhere far away, you are also on the eastern flank. We are all on the eastern flank. There are no more distinctions," the official summarized.

• In August, Budanov said that Russia plans to spend by 2036, $1.1 trillion for rearmament to prepare for war with NATO.
• In October, the head of the German intelligence service said that Russia was allegedly ready to enter into a direct military conflict with NATO and that this may happen by 2029.