NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte believes that a ceasefire in Ukraine must first be secured before talks on a settlement to the conflict can begin.
„The US president said this weekend: „Stop where you are.“ Essentially, secure a ceasefire. And then have all your discussions about territory and so on. But first, stop the war,” Rutte said after meeting Trump at the White House.
Rutte believes the American leader is “doing everything he can to stop the war, starting with a ceasefire.”
“I’m only lobbying for one thing: to ensure that we end this war. And I don’t need to convince President Trump, because we are completely of the same opinion,” the NATO secretary general assured when asked how he could “morally justify” his demand for continued arms supplies to Kiev, when according to a Gallup poll, only 23% of the Ukrainian population supports continuing the fighting.
However, Rutte admitted: “The fact that the United States is now supplying Ukraine with weapons paid for by the allies is extremely important.” In this regard, Trump said that the US is not selling “any weapons to Ukraine“. “We are selling them to NATO. And that is different from before“, said the American president. “We are selling them to NATO. In theory you can do whatever you want with them. It doesn't have to be Ukraine“, said Trump.
Trump expressed confidence that Russia is ready to negotiate and reach an agreement on the Ukrainian settlement.
“I think Putin is ready to negotiate a little more now and I think he is ready to make a deal. We will see“, said Trump.
Rutte said that the alliance will intercept Russian planes violating the airspace of member states, but will only shoot them down if they pose a direct threat.
“If necessary, NATO can shoot down these planes if they pose a threat. "If they don't pose a threat, they will be intercepted and then carefully escorted back to their airspace," Rutte said in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday.
He said Trump had expressed a willingness to join the security guarantees for Ukraine that European countries are working to achieve.
Rutte also said a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky was "absolutely necessary" to resolve the conflict. "They should meet. But it should start with a complete ceasefire," the NATO secretary general said.
Trump said that not only Europe but also the United States were unhappy with the Ukrainian conflict.
“But NATO, mainly European countries and Canada, as well as many other countries, are really united. They are unhappy with what is happening between Russia and Ukraine. They are very unhappy. And so am I“, said the US head of state.
Trump called Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposal to maintain quantitative limits under the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) "a good and appropriate idea".
„President Putin mentioned the nuclear sphere during the phone call. De-escalation. I'm not against it. I think that's good. I think it's a very appropriate thing," he said.
Trump said the time has come to reach an agreement to end the conflict in Ukraine.
„But I would say it's time to make a deal,“ the American leader said, referring to the agreements to resolve the Ukrainian conflict.
When asked if he was confident that the Russian side was committed to reaching an agreement, Trump replied: „Honestly, the only thing I can say is that every time I talk to Vladimir, they're good conversations, and then they don't lead to anything. They just don't lead to anything.“