There is no imminent threat to Nato territory from Russia, alliance chief Rutte insists

Nato's Secretary General has insisted there is no imminent threat to Nato territory, and stressed that if there were a threat, the alliance "has trained for it and we will deal with it". 

It comes as Mark Rutte was asked about reports that Russia had sent a letter to Nato stating that if its territory came under threat, it would be ready to resort to nuclear weapons. 

"Putin knows that he can never win against Nato, so I don't take that seriously," he said. "But of course, we had to reply and make clear to him that Nato is a defensive alliance, as I said, and stop the war in Ukraine and stop the nuclear threats, because it's not helpful.

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"And Nato is so much stronger than Russia is, so there's no way they can ever beat us."

Amid heightened tensions over the last few weeks, Nato's chief was pressed on whether he thought the alliance was under threat. 

"There is no imminent threat to Nato territory," he insisted. "If there is a build-up, we will see it, and we will deal with it. If anything happens otherwise, we will also deal with it, because we have prepared and trained for this."

He added: "We have a single command structure. We have 32 allies working together. We have a fantastic supreme allied commander in Alexus Grynkevich, the American general.

"So we are in perfect shape, both when it comes to the hybrid and when it comes to whatever might happen more. And we have to be clear-eyed – Russia is not going to do anything."

Mr Rutte said Russia was not doing well in Ukraine and insisted Nato should not be rattled. Instead, it should make sure that Ukraine has what it needs to stay in the fight.