Rutte will also have to handle pressure from some members to devote more attention to counter-terrorism and reinforce NATO’s southern flank — while keeping defense spending high enough to maintain a credible deterrence,

Mark Rutte, the new NATO Secretary General, despite threats from Russian President Vladimir Putin, believes there is currently no direct threat of nuclear weapons being used. The statement was made during Tuesday's press conference at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO members should not be deterred from giving more military aid to Ukraine by Vladimir Putin's "reckless Russian nuclear rhetoric", outgoing NATO boss Jens Stoltenberg told Reuters in an interview on Monday.