NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Photo via Wikimedia.

NATO Secretary General Rutte: Ukraine must negotiate with Russia from a position of strength

October 16, 2024

By Ukraine

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NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has said that the alliance’s strategy is to provide military assistance to Ukraine and if at some point Kyiv starts negotiations with Russia on ending the war, it will do so from a position of strength.

In recent weeks, a number of foreign media outlets have written about Ukraine’s alleged readiness to make concessions to Russia at the cost of its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Ukraine denies this, and wants to attain a just peace through its ”Victory Plan.” Rutte’s remarks seem to overlap with this desire from Ukraine and can help point the allies in the same direction: one aimed at supporting Ukraine in its needs, without forcing it towards the negotiating table.

As noted by Rutte during a press conference with the Prime Minister of Latvia, Evika Siliņa, NATO supports Ukraine with military assistance and will not let Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin get his way in Ukraine.

The NATO Secretary General said that the United States and other countries are providing significant assistance to Ukraine and all that needs to be done now is to make sure that Ukraine can continue to resist aggression.

“And if one day Zelensky and his team decide to discuss with Russia how to put an end to this – he will do it from a position of strength,” Rutte added.

On 14 October, former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that only Ukraine should decide whether to agree to negotiations with Russia or not, while the main task of partners is to further help to make Ukraine as strong as possible.

Furthermore, Rutte argued that “the message (to Russian President Vladimir Putin) is that we will continue, that we will do what’s necessary to make sure that he will not get his way, that Ukraine will prevail.”

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