NATO chief says his impression of us is that the Russians “don’t move fast enough” to end the war in Ukraine
Senior NATO officials said Russia needs to act faster to end the war in Ukraine, and the United States told him that Moscow must “do more.”
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte Said in an interview This will be aired on Sunday’s “Facing the Country with Margaret Brennan.” “They didn’t move fast enough, it was my impression, including the impression I got from American interlocutors that Russia really had to do more to get this war to end.”
Rutte spoke with Brennan on Friday, saying the United States and its allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are locking in with Russia and are in harmony to ensure an end to the war on Ukrainian and Russian aggression.
He praised the White House for prioritizing the “sabotage deadlock” in Ukraine, where the Russian invasion has been grinding since 2022, resulting in hundreds of thousands of casualties and wholesale destruction of towns.
“I talked to Marco Rubio, and I have regular contacts with other members of the U.S. government. I think you are working on a step-by-step basis to resolve the situation where this war might end,” Rutt said.
“The Russians also have to dance tango, and they don’t seem to do that at the moment,” Rut said. The Ukrainians “really approach the United States.”
Russia has Not yet agreed The United States proposed a full 30-day ceasefire and said there are still some unresolved issues that must be resolved first.
Rubio, who Participate in NATO conference in Brussels“We will soon know from their answers whether they take real peace seriously or a delay strategy. Now, we’re at the stage where we need to make progress.”
Rutt said it was President Trump’s inauguration that started the peace process, telling Brennan that “until January, when the war ended, nothing happened.”
Both sides and the United States are working to finalize the details of a partial ceasefire.
NATO and Trump’s tariffs
Rut says he doesn’t believe Mr. Trump’s Global tariffsSlamming Europe and many of its allies will damage the military alliance.
“I’m not saying that this won’t affect Individual alliesbut this will not affect the league.
He added that this is “my firm belief” that a potential trade war will not affect Europe’s defense spending or commitment to NATO.
Mr. Trump often criticizes NATO countries Spend less money More than 2% of the GDP of the Department of Defense prompted members to double their defense spending to 5%.
Rut argued on Friday that European countries have increased their spending.
“It’s shocking, this billion dollar revenue. When you look at the overall defensive spending now appears to be increasing in Europe, you have to compare it to the Cold War era,” Rutt said.
Nuclear deterrence
Pressure on Brennan’s statements made by leaders in Germany, Poland and France, that it would expand the Western European nuclear umbrella beyond the US and UK guarantees, Rutt said he had confidence in U.S. nuclear security assurances.
“Marco Rubio basically repeated three times this week that President Trump said on TV: The United States is completely committed to NATO and fully committed to Article 5,” Rut said. “Including the United States is the ultimate guarantor of NATO’s territory, including NATO, and of course the European part of NATO.” Article 5 says that an attack on any NATO member state is an attack on all members.
Rut said the Trump administration said it was committed to the coalition.
“What I urge my European colleagues to do is play TV on TV and sometimes listen to senior U.S. leadership in NATO,” Rut said. “Instead of worrying, ‘Is the U.S. still committed to NATO?’ The answer is yes, it has been standing out of the U.S. system over the past three months.”
