NATO Secretary General confirmed that the issue of Kyiv's accession to NATO has been removed from the negotiations. Trump previously said that Ukraine would not become a member of the alliance. Its refusal to join NATO is one of Russia's demands
‘NATO is dead!’: Rutte’s bombshell admission that Ukraine will never join NATO rocks internet
The NATO Secretary General confirmed Friday that the alliance's doors are closed to Ukraine, and that Europe and the US are likely to start a gradual process of restoring relations with Russia in the long term once a peace deal is reached.
His comments were met with violently mixed reactions. Some praised the admission, arguing that it’s something that should have been said years ago, and that the bloody conflict could have been avoided altogether if NATO had respected Russia’s concerns.
Critics dubbed Rutte a "complete failure" who should resign and expressed concerns that NATO might be dissolved if Russia ‘gets to decide who joins’.
The issue of Ukraine's accession to NATO is no longer on the agenda, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told Bloomberg after a meeting with US President Donald Trump.
When asked whether Trump is "really removing the issue of Ukraine's accession to NATO from the negotiating table," the Secretary General answered positively. He also noted that he doubts the possibility of involving the alliance in control of ensuring peace in Ukraine, but admitted that the bloc could advise Kyiv on this.
Rutte said he is optimistic that the hostilities could end this year. According to the Secretary General, ending the conflict will normalize relations with Russia, but the parties are “far from it.” He added that Moscow needs to “continue to be under pressure” to take the negotiations seriously.
Ukraine has insisted on membership in the alliance, but Trump is against it. In late February, he publicly stated that Ukraine’s accession to NATO “will not happen” because the conflict began because of the promise of membership.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that if the doors of the North Atlantic Alliance remain closed to Kyiv, it will be necessary to “build NATO in Ukraine” by financing the country’s defense, helping to develop the military industry at a level that will “mean guaranteed peace.” He named a Ukrainian army of 800,000 people as necessary.
Russia opposes Kyiv’s membership in NATO; its official refusal to join the alliance was previously named as one of the conditions for starting peace talks. A few days before the start of the military operation in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said that if the neighboring country were accepted into the alliance, then “the level of military threats to Russia would increase dramatically, many times over,” and there would be a risk of a “sudden attack” on the country.
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