“But we are absolutely not there yet,” defense chief says a day after talks with U.S. President Trump.
Europe and the United States should eventually normalize relations with Russia once the fighting in Ukraine ends, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said.
“It’s normal if the war would have stopped for Europe somehow, step by step, and also for the U.S., step by step, to restore normal relations with Russia,” Rutte said in an interview with Bloomberg on Friday.
However, the defense chief added that the alliance must keep up the pressure on Moscow to ensure they engage seriously in ongoing ceasefire negotiations.
“We are absolutely not there yet,” he said, referring to any normalization of relations. “That’s why we have the sanctions. Let’s not be naive about the Russians. But in the longer term, Russia is there, and Russia will not go away.”
Rutte’s statement comes a day after he met with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House, where the two discussed the U.S.’s plan for a ceasefire in Ukraine, more than three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
The NATO chief declined to comment on the feasibility of the 30-day ceasefire plan, but called it a “very smart plan” and said he’s “happy” with the developments.
“The Trump administration, the president himself, broke the deadlock in this war because he started to engage with the Russians. I think that’s positive for the Ukrainians.
“The U.S. administration is now in dialogue with the Russians to see where they stand on this, and this will be a step-by-step approach. But this is literally developing over the next couple of hours and days, so it’s very difficult to predict when that will happen,” he said.
Rutte added that while “there are many ways” to provide security guarantees to Ukraine, “it would be difficult for NATO to get involved [as NATO].”
The secretary-general said his Oval Office conversation with Trump was “very positive,” as Rutte felt an “absolutely clear commitment” to the defense alliance from the U.S. president.
