International Nato announces visit by Zelenskyi

During his visit to Brussels this Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky intends to meet not only the heads of state and government of the EU states, but also the defense ministers of the NATO countries. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will receive Zelensky at the headquarters, according to alliance spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah. There will also be a joint press conference between Rutte and Selensky at 18:20.

Among other things, the NATO defense ministers' meeting will discuss the situation in Ukraine and further support options. Secretary General Mark Rutte had recently expressed fears that Ukraine could be facing the harshest winter since the start of the Russian war of aggression in February 2022.

The visit to NATO headquarters is also an opportunity for Zelensky to answer any unanswered questions about his "victory plan" for ending the war with Russia, which he presented publicly on Wednesday. One of the central points of this plan is a quick invitation to join NATO.

In an initial reaction on Wednesday, Rutte said that he could not currently say that he supported the entire plan. There are many points that need to be better understood.

With regard to the issue of Ukraine's accession to NATO, Rutte referred to the resolutions of the most recent NATO summit in Washington. At this summit, supporters of a quick invitation were unable to prevail against opponents such as the USA and Germany. The alliance states were only able to agree to give Ukraine a general assurance that it could no longer be stopped on its way to joining the defense alliance.