⚡️🇪🇺🇷🇺 — During the Euronews Defence and Space Summit, Bulgarian PM Rumen Radev challenged the EU’s Ukraine strategy, characterizing it as a failed attempt at «peace by force» that undermined Europe's critical thinking, capability to assess the adversary’s center of gravity, and capacity to translate political objectives into military strategy. Calling for diplomatic re-engagement with the Kremlin to avert a nuclear attack against Europe, Radev stressed: «There is a nuclear card.» — Euronews

➡️ Concurrently, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte countered that there is no immediate threat to the Alliance, reaffirming readiness to defend «every inch of NATO territory». Following reports of a Russian warning against isolating Kaliningrad backed by threat of its full arsenal, Rutte declined to verify the letter's contents, rejected a concrete nuclear escalation against the Baltics, and stated: «Everybody knows that he [Russian President Vladimir Putin] can never win against NATO. I don't take this seriously.» Rutte called for an end to nuclear rhetoric, sustained aid to Kyiv, and increased defense investment, assessing Russian frontline attrition at 43,000 troops killed or seriously wounded per month.

➡️ Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken warned of an impending «dark winter» of hybrid interference, identifying Russian air attacks as the primary threat and urging for expanded air defenses, accelerated production, and industrial synchronization with Ukraine's battlefield technological cycles, warning against stockpiling drones that risk obsolescence within months; Francken confirmed Belgium's defense budget has doubled from 1% of GDP to 2% to counter years of underinvestment.

➡️ This resource pressure aligns with statements by US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker, who reaffirmed Washington's engagement while noting: «We're not stepping back. We're just asking our allies to step forward and join us.» Concurrently, US Ambassador to the EU Andrew Puzder sharply criticized the EU’s «Made in Europe» defense procurement framework, arguing that «capability and availability should determine the solution, not geography». Advocating for a «Made in NATO» model to grant US defense firms expanded access to EU contracts, Puzder concluded: «One attack by a powerful adversary on a member state, and we'll all be glad that we focused on weapon superiority rather than regional economics.»

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