logo
World War III will start with simultaneous Xi and Putin invasions taking the globe to the brink of Armageddon, warns NATO chief Mark Rutte

World War III will start with simultaneous Xi and Putin invasions taking the globe to the brink of Armageddon, warns NATO chief Mark Rutte

Daily Mail​a day ago
NATO chief Mark Rutte has chillingly warned that World War II will start with simultaneous invasions from Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.
Secretary-general Rutte suggested the combined attacks from the Chinese and Russian leaders could trigger a World War nightmare and bring the planet to the brink of Armageddon.
According to the NATO chief, China would start by seeking to grab Taiwan - while ensuring the Kremlin dictator simultaneously attacks NATO territory, amid fears Putin is anyway eyeing the Baltic republics Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, formerly part of the USSR.
Russia today hit back at ex-Netherlands premier Rutte, claiming he had 'gorged on too many of the magic mushrooms beloved by the Dutch ', while warning he should look forward to a future in a hellish Siberian labour camp.
Stressing the urgent need to re-arm and boost military budgets, Rutte told the New York Times in a chilling vision of the future: 'Let's not be naïve about this.
'If Xi Jinping would attack Taiwan, he would first make sure that he makes a call to his very junior partner in all of this, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, residing in Moscow, and telling him, "Hey, I'm going to do this, and I need you to to keep them busy in Europe by attacking NATO territory".
'That is most likely the way this will progress, and to deter them, we need to do two things' he added.
Continuing his terrifying account, Rutte said: 'One is that NATO, collectively, being so strong that the Russians will never do this.
'And second, working together with the Indo-Pacific - something President [Donald] Trump is very much promoting, because we have this close interconnectedness, working together on defence industry, innovation between NATO and the Indo-Pacific.'
Rutte warned that Putin is rearming at a fast pace, insisting that Western countries must increase defence spending.
'We have an enormous geopolitical challenge on our hands,' he said.
'And that is first of all Russia, which is reconstituting itself at a pace and a speed which is unparalleled in recent history.
'They are now producing three times as much ammunition in three months as the whole of NATO is doing in a year.
'This is unsustainable, but the Russians are working together with the North Koreans, with the Chinese and Iranians, the mullahs, in fighting this unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine.
'So here, the Indo-Pacific and your Atlantic are getting more and more interconnected. We know that China has its eye on Taiwan.'
Senior Putin security official Dmitry Medvedev - a former Russian president and ex-premier - lashed out on X: 'Rutte has clearly gorged on too many of the magic mushrooms beloved by the Dutch.
'He sees collusion between China & Russia over Taiwan, and then a Russian attack on Europe.
'But he's right about one thing: he should learn Russian. It might come in handy in a Siberian camp.'
The warnings came as Russia continued its onslaught on Ukraine - days after Putin informed Trump by telephone that he had no intention of halting his war of invasion.
Two multi-story buildings were damaged in the Vyshhorod district, the fire destroyed four garage premises and a car, and three more cars were damaged
Putin pummelled Ukraine with four S-300 missiles and 157 drones, with 127 of the UAVs shot down or suppressed by electronic warfare.
Explosions hit Kyiv and the surrounding region, with multiple people wounded and residential buildings damaged.
In Ukraine's second city Kharkiv, a two year old child and a woman, 46, were among those hurt as Putin continued to terrorise civilians, seeking to weaken the population's resolve.
The Russians also hit Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region.
Apartment buildings were also hit in Kramatorsk in drone strikes.
Ukraine hit back with an attack sea drone seen being destroyed by Russian defences in Novorossiysk Bay in the Black Sea.
Moscow was forced to close its major international airport Sheremetyevo due to the threat of drones.
Rutte praised Trump for seeking to make progress with Putin.
'He is the one who broke the deadlock with Putin. When he became president in January, he started these discussions with Putin, and he was the only one who was able to do this,' said the NATO chief.
'This had to happen. A direct dialogue between the American president and the president of the Russian Federation.'
Yet this had not yet resulted in a peace deal.
'We are not there yet, and that means that in the meantime you have to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs to stay in the fight.'
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

EU holds back on signing climate action pledge with China, FT says
EU holds back on signing climate action pledge with China, FT says

Reuters

time23 minutes ago

  • Reuters

EU holds back on signing climate action pledge with China, FT says

July 7 (Reuters) - The European Union is holding back on signing a joint climate action pledge with China at a summit this month to mark a half-century of diplomatic ties, a top climate official told the Financial Times in remarks published on Monday. The EU's climate targets are among the world's most ambitious, but they have been based entirely on domestic emissions cuts. Now the bloc faces a mid-September deadline to submit a new 2035 climate target to the United Nations. Brussels has refused Beijing's repeated requests for a mutual climate commitment after the summit of the world's second- and third-largest economies, unless China promises to do more to cut greenhouse gas emissions, EU officials said. "There is only merit in having a declaration from our perspective if there are also content nuts to be cracked and ambition to be displayed," Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told the paper. China has always been actively promoting green and low-carbon development, a foreign ministry spokesperson said in response to the comments. "We will continue to work with other countries to strengthen international cooperation on climate change, and contribute to the green transformation and sustainable development of humankind," the spokesperson, Mao Ning, told a regular briefing. China, which has been struggling to strike a balance between fostering economic growth and reaching environmental goals, is expected to miss a five-year goal for an 18% cut in carbon intensity by the end of this year. Reuters could not immediately verify the report, and the European Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bloodthirsty Putin pounding Ukraine with close to 1,000 missiles and kamikaze drones a DAY in brazen defiance of Trump
Bloodthirsty Putin pounding Ukraine with close to 1,000 missiles and kamikaze drones a DAY in brazen defiance of Trump

The Sun

time35 minutes ago

  • The Sun

Bloodthirsty Putin pounding Ukraine with close to 1,000 missiles and kamikaze drones a DAY in brazen defiance of Trump

RUSSIA could soon hammer Ukraine with 1,000 drones and missiles every day - as another deadly blitz landed overnight. It was the second massive assault in the four days since Trump's call with Putin, and represents a brazen defiance of the President's peace agenda. 7 7 7 Moscow's firepower capacity is constantly increasing and his forces have regularly broken the record for the largest daily volley of weapons in recent weeks. On June 1, a 479-strong wave of drones and missiles became Russia 's largest unmanned aerial assault of the war. June 9 saw that broken with 499, then again on June 29 with 537. And finally, just last Friday, Putin terrorised Kyiv with a firestorm of 550 drones and missiles - just as he and Trump finished a phone call. Russia's defence industry is ballooning as projects come to fruition - such as an expanded missile plant in Votkinsk and rapidly expanding supply chains. With an expanding arsenal, the size of Russia's regular salvos look set only to increase - meaning they could soon nudge 1000 weapons per day. It's a bleak prospect for Ukraine, where each wave brings pain and death. Dozens of kamikaze drones and missiles landed this morning, killing at least three people - two in the weary Sumy region and on in Odessa. There were also dozens of casualties in Ukraine's second city Kharkiv. At least 27 were wounded, including children aged three, seven and 11, by the onslaught of Iranian-designed Shaded drones. US President Donald Trump said Russia just wanted to -keep killing people- and hinted at sanctions after Moscow launched its largest ever drone and missile attack on Ukraine in the three-year-old war- Two residential blocks were hit in Kharkiv, according to the regional administration, Oleh Syniehubov - with the top floors of one engulfed in flames. Psychologists were dispatched to treat people traumatised by Putin's latest strikes - which appeared to prioritise sowing terror among civilians Kyiv was also hit, as was Dnipropetrovsk region, where the weapons injured two pensioners, a man aged 73 and a woman, 66. In Donetsk, footage shows a Russian Gerber decoy drone was used as a strike weapon to slam into a residential building - triggering a giant explosion. As Ukraine turned to Europe - especially Germany - for urgent new help with its air defences, Donald Trump insisted he has not abandoned Kyiv. He said: 'I am helping Ukraine. I help a lot." 7 7 Trump also acknowledged the pounding that Ukraine is taking, despite his recent conversation with Putin. The President said: 'He [Zelensky] is being hit very hard - and I was very disappointed with my call with President Putin, I was very disappointed." Over the weekend, Trump said: "[Putin] wants to go all the way, just keep killing people, it's no good." US special envoy Keith Kellogg will fly to Europe to meet Zelensky this week. For its part, Ukraine hit warehouses at a chemical plant which produces ammunition and military-grade explosives for the Russian military machine. Repeated explosions were heard at the Krasnozavodsk site, some 55 miles northeast of the Kremlin. 7 7 The attack was carried out by Ukraine's new FP-1 one‑way kamikaze loitering strike drones, which support warheads of up to 120kg. Footage shows strikes at the strategic plant - the latest of dozens of Russian military factories to be hit by Ukraine. Ukraine is also believed to be behind major airport disruption in European Russia over the weekend and early today. Hundreds of flights were delayed or cancelled amid concerns over drones. Problems continued at Pulkovo airport in St Petersburg today, after major Moscow hub Sheremetyevo was badly hit on Sunday.

Ukraine says four killed and more than 30 injured in another round of Russian strikes
Ukraine says four killed and more than 30 injured in another round of Russian strikes

The Guardian

timean hour ago

  • The Guardian

Ukraine says four killed and more than 30 injured in another round of Russian strikes

Update: Date: 2025-07-07T08:12:37.000Z Title: Morning opening: What's next for Ukraine? Content: At least four people were killed and more than 30 injured in another round of Russian strikes on Ukraine overnight, just days after a series of phone calls between US president Donald Trump, Russian president Vladimir Putin, and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The latest attack will once again pose questions on what's next for Ukraine as the US ceasefire proposal, pursued by Trump, appears to be failing to make any further progress. Zelenskyy's top aide Andriy Yermak said in an update on Telegram that 'one of the important principles of defence is the destruction of the enemy's ability to produce weapons,' as he called for 'Russia's military-industrial complex … to be weakened in various ways: from sanctions to direct strikes.' The western world must realise that Russia's scaling up of weapons production only brings us closer to the day when it will be used not only against Ukraine. Elsewhere, some parts of Europe still battles heatwave with temperatures close to 40 Celsius in Greece, while others in central and eastern Europe are on alert for storms and torrential rains. In Strasbourg, the European parliament will hold a debate ahead of this Thursday's vote of no confidence in Ursula von der Leyen's EU commission. We are also waiting for more updates from EU-US trade talks, and on the latest situation on the Polish border with Germany after Poland has reintroduced controls overnight in an attempt to prevent irregular migration.I will bring you all the updates from Ukraine and across Europe here. It's Monday, 7 July 2025, it's Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live. Good morning.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store