Ukraine must become a member of NATO — Rutte named a condition

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Secretary General Mark Rutte said that Ukraine should become a member of NATO in the future. But he believes that before that, Ukraine needs to ensure a strong position for negotiations with Russia.

He said this at the meeting of the European Parliament Committee.

Ukraine’s accession to NATO

"First of all, we have to make sure that Ukraine takes a position of strength once it starts peace negotiations. This is something we can do now to make sure they take a position of strength," Rutte said.

In his opinion, Ukraine should become a member of NATO in the future — this is what they promised Ukraine. Now, countries are "building a bridge" through bilateral security agreements between many allies and Ukraine, and also through the promise of $40 billion.

The Secretary General of the Alliance noted that the committee in Wiesbaden started its work a few weeks ago, taking over the tasks of the previous structures. He also added that when the negotiations begin, it will be extremely important for Russia, moving forward, to understand that it will be impossible for it to invade Ukraine again.

"So part of the peace negotiations should be a precise way forward in terms of Ukraine-NATO relations, preferably within the framework of NATO," Rutte specified.

He believes that it is too early to describe exactly what this would mean. NATO should also discuss this with the new administration of the United States.

As a reminder, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Secretary General of NATO Mark Rutte to discuss Air Defence Systems and peace-building.

And the newly elected President of the United States, Donald Trump, believes that Ukraine cannot become a member of NATO.