NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte advised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to restore relations with Donald Trump after their dispute at the White House on February 28. He noted that the quarrel was "unfortunate" and that without American support, Ukraine would "go nowhere".
The words of the Secretary General are reported by The Guardian.
“I told him this: we must stick together — the United States, Ukraine and Europe — to bring Ukraine to a lasting peace,” Rutte said.
When asked what Zelensky said about his meeting with Trump, Rutte replied that he had no right to disclose it, but in a conversation with the Ukrainian president, he noted that we really should respect what Trump did for Ukraine, referring to the supply of Javelin anti-tank missiles.
"So I told him that we really have to give Trump credit for what he did then, what America has done since then, and what America is still doing," Rutte said.
Rutte added that he spoke with Trump on Thursday and is confident that he is committed to bringing Ukraine to a lasting peace.
"We are friends, we have worked together for years. I know he is committed to bringing Ukraine to a lasting peace. He is committed to NATO," Rutte stressed.
He said that the US needs to make sure that “we’re all working together on this”. Trump also expects European NATO partners, including Canada, to spend more and increase defense production.
How did the meeting between Trump and Zelensky go?
Volodymyr Zelensky met with the US President Donald Trump in Washington on February 28, the day they were supposed to sign a rare earth minerals agreement. However, during a brief question-and-answer session, the Ukrainian and American leaders took a more heated tone.
It all started with the words of the Ukrainian president about the need to provide Ukraine with security guarantees and actively include Kyiv in the negotiation process.
"You have no right to tell us what to do," Zelensky said.
Trump started talking about destroyed Ukrainian cities and the shortage of men in Ukraine. To which Zelensky responded that the American leader should come to Ukraine and check.
"You should be grateful. You donʼt have the cards in your hands," Trump said, once again recalling that the US allegedly gave Ukraine $350 million in aid.
The President of Ukraine replied that he "didnʼt come here to play cards".
President Zelensky also once again emphasized that Europe must be at the negotiating table. According to him, the ceasefire proposed by Trump is not a solution. Ukraine will never accept a ceasefire without security guarantees, because Russia has violated such ceasefires 25 times.
After that, the journalists left the meeting, and later it became known that the President of Ukraine had left the White House early, Trump stated that the President of Ukraine was not ready for peace. The countries did not sign the agreement.
After that, the President of Ukraine wrote a post in X, where he thanked the American President, Congress, and the people.
"Ukraine needs a just and lasting peace, and we are working for this," he wrote.
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