International Nato Secretary General reacts cautiously to Trump's initiative
Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte has reacted cautiously to the negotiations announced by US President Donald Trump with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin for an end to the Russian war against Ukraine.
13.02.2025, 10:40
SDA
"We will see how this develops now," he said on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels. It is crucial that Ukraine is closely involved in everything that is decided about Ukraine.
We must now ensure that Ukraine is in the best possible position, emphasized Rutte. And if a peace agreement is concluded, it must be ensured that this agreement will endure. Putin must understand "that this is the end, that he can never again try to conquer a piece of Ukraine", said the former Dutch head of government. "This must be part of these negotiations and there is no doubt that President Trump and his team are aware of this." There will now be close coordination between the allies.
Rutte also recalled the failure of the Minsk Agreement following the Russian annexation of the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in 2014. "We thought this agreement would last. It didn't. Putin simply continued to try to seize parts of Ukraine," he said. "This must never happen again."
Trump had announced on Wednesday that he wanted to discuss a solution to end the Russian war against Ukraine at a meeting with Putin. At the same time, his government publicly outlined for the first time how it envisages a deal to end the war. Ukraine is to give up its aspirations to join Nato and US soldiers are not to be part of a possible peacekeeping force.
