NATO Secretary General Rutte Outlines Two Security Conditions for Ukraine After War with Russia

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has voiced two main conditions necessary to ensure Ukraine's security after a potential peace deal with Russia. He said this at a press conference after a meeting of the contact group on Ukraine's defence in the Ramstein format in Brussels on 12 February, Suspilne reports.  

Rutte noted that the first condition is to ensure Ukraine's best possible position in the negotiations to end the war. The second is to ensure that the agreement is strong enough to prevent Russia from attacking Ukraine again in the future.  

‘These two things are crucial for me, and then we can easily find the best way forward, including the involvement of other NATO countries, on how to do it. All this is part of the course of future negotiations with allies and then, to some extent, probably also with him (Putin - ed.),’ he said.  

According to him, all the member states of the alliance agree that Ukraine should receive the necessary support to have a strong negotiating position.  

Rutte also said that he had already met with Pentagon chief Pete Huckabee. He expects further talks with the defence ministers of the Ramstein countries and stressed that they have ‘a lot of work to do’.  

The main topic of the meeting, he said, was defence spending. The NATO Secretary General believes that Europe and Canada should significantly increase investments in security and defence. He stressed that since 2014, European countries and Canada have spent more than $700 billion on defence.  

‘In 2024, NATO Allies in Europe and Canada invested 485 billion US dollars in defence - an increase of 20% compared to 2023. So we are seeing significant progress, but we have to do much more,’ Rutte said.  

He also noted that 99% of the military assistance Ukraine has received since 2022 has come from NATO countries. Among the latest initiatives, he noted new military aid packages from Sweden and Finland, as well as the transfer of Mirage 2000 fighter jets by France.