NATO chief urges allies to prioritise military aid to Ukraine over peace talks

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has urged allies to prioritise delivering military aid to Ukraine to counter Russia's gradual yet persistent advance, rather than focusing on what a potential peace agreement might look like.

He made the remarks on December 3 at a two-day summit of foreign ministers from NATO’s 32 member countries in Brussels, with Ukraine being a central topic, Caliber.Az reports, citing Western media.

Rutte emphasized in a press conference ahead of the summit that "the most crucial thing we have to do now" is ensuring that "Ukraine, that whenever it decides to enter peace talks, will do so from a position of strength."

He added, "Ukraine doesn’t need more ideas on what a peace process could look like." The focus over the next two days, he said, will be on increasing military aid to Ukraine, enhancing missile defense, and improving coordination among NATO members’ efforts.

This summit will be the last attended by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken before a new administration under President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20. Trump has claimed he could end the war within days, raising concerns that Washington might reduce support to Kyiv and impose harsh territorial concessions in a peace deal with Russia.

Moreover, unnamed diplomats close told Politico that Mark Rutte has taken the initiative that the defence ministers of the European Union member states should start interacting with the US President-elect Donald Trump, rather than discussing his personality.

According to them, Rutte, who met with the politician at his Florida residence in November, told the Europeans at a recent meeting that “instead of talking about Trump, they should talk to him.”

Trump has repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with NATO's performance. If he wins the November election, he has threatened to withdraw the U.S. from the North Atlantic Alliance unless European partners take greater financial responsibility for their own security. 

At a press conference ahead of the summit, Rutte noted that NATO is not considering Ukraine's accession to the alliance, but is only discussing the possibility of providing Kyiv with military assistance.

Rutte once again expressed the view that all allies agree that “Ukraine's future is in NATO.”

“At the summit in Washington, the allies agreed that Ukraine's future is in NATO and that Ukraine's path to NATO is irreversible,” he recalled, adding that the alliance is working to bring Kyiv closer to membership.

“This is happening step by step,” Rutte said.

By Khagan Isayev