Rutte: Alaska Summit Will Test Putin’s Commitment to Ending Ukraine War
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stressed that Friday's summit between Presidents Trump and Putin in Alaska will be an important test that will show how serious Putin is about ending the war in Ukraine, The Gaze reports, citing ABC News.
"Next Friday will be important because it will be about testing Putin, how serious he is on bringing this terrible war to an end," Rutte said.
Mark Rutte outlined the main issues to be addressed during the upcoming negotiations on Ukraine, emphasizing the key principles of sovereignty and security.
"It [full-scale negotiations] will be about territory. It will be, of course, about security guarantees, but also about the absolute need to acknowledge that Ukraine decides on its own future, that Ukraine has to be a sovereign nation, deciding on its own geopolitical future -- of course having no limitations to its own military troop levels. And for NATO, to have no limitations on our presence on the eastern flank," he added.
The NATO Secretary General also emphasized the complexity of the issue of Russia's control over part of Ukrainian territory and the need to determine further steps regarding security guarantees for Ukraine.
"When it comes to this whole issue of territory, when it comes to acknowledging, for example, maybe in a future deal that Russia is controlling de facto, factually some of the territory of Ukraine, it has to be effectual recognition, and not a political de jure recognition," he stated.
When asked about the risk of agreements that could reward Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, Rutte replied that there was no such risk. He stressed that President Trump was putting serious pressure on Moscow through economic sanctions and the supply of lethal weapons to Ukraine, albeit through the Europeans.
“So this is all clear evidence that President Trump is absolutely adamant to bring this war to an end but also to keep maximum pressure on Putin,” the NATO Secretary General said.
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