NATO not involved in talks to end Ukraine-Russia war – Rutte

Rutte said this in an interview with NV, according to Ukrinform.

“We are not part as NATO of those negotiations. They are really driven by the U.S., together with Ukraine and the Russians. I’m glad that the U.S. has broken the deadlock, that these talks are now ongoing. They go slow, we know, not because of Ukraine, but because of the Russians. The ball is clearly in Russia’s court now, in Russia’s corner,” he said.

In his opinion, NATO does not have its own red lines in the peace negotiations, “because we are not part of that.”

“But, of course, generally speaking, we want Ukraine to be a proud sovereign nation going forward. That’s what we all want. It has to be a just and lasting peace. Putin should never try this again,” Rutte said.

When asked whether NATO might be part of a peacekeeping force in Ukraine — an idea being discussed by the UK and France with EU partners — Rutte said: ” When we get to a peace deal or a ceasefire, we need to look what is the best way to support Ukraine from not being attacked again by the Russians.”

According to him, the first layer is ensuring that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are in the best possible position after a ceasefire or peace deal.

“Then we have the French and the Brits looking into ways with the ‘coalition of the willing’ to supply security guarantees. We have proposals from the Italians going into a somewhat different direction, but with the same aim. I think it is best to wait for the moment when the peace is struck,” he said.

Rutte stressed the need to continue developing these different ideas so that, once a peace agreement or ceasefire is reached, Ukraine can make use of them.

At the same time, he noted that NATO itself will likely not be involved in such a peacekeeping mission.

“That’s not very likely. But it could be NATO allies being involved. And that always means that it has an impact on NATO territory. It might have an impact on the defense of NATO territory also going forward. So in that sense, you have to coordinate, liaise. And this is with the Italian proposals, with the British-French ideas, with some of the ideas Chancellor Schultz has put forward. So on all these issues. And then I think the best moment to judge what is the best approach is when we know what the peace deal looks like,” Rutte said.

He also commented on NATO allies’ commitment to provide EUR 20 billion in support to Ukraine.

“What I wanted to make clear is that where last year, for the whole year, there was a pledge of 40 billion [euros] and we ended up at 50 billion [euros] from which 60% was supplied by the Europeans and Canada. So the America’s NATO allies. That now, in the first three months, we have brought together about 20 billion euros, so over 20 billion U.S. dollars in three months. And last year, it was 50 billion [euros] over the whole year,” Rutte said.

According to him, there is still a huge supply line going into Ukraine from Europe with defense gear from the U.S., European allies, and others.

“But 99% is coming from NATO allies into Ukraine to make sure you can stay in the fight and will be in the best possible position to negotiate,” he said.