NATO chief wants less talk of peace process in Ukraine, more arms

NATO’s Secretary-General Mark Rutte argued that Ukraine needs to be put in a “position of strength” instead of being pushed toward peace talks, while speaking at a Tuesday conference ahead of the organization’s Foreign Ministers meeting this week.

“I would argue, let's not have all these discussions step by step on what a peace process might look like,” Rutte said at the first full gathering of the group since President-elect Trump's win. 

“Make sure that Ukraine has what it needs to get to a position of strength when those peace talks start, when the Ukrainian government has decided they are ready to do so,” he added. 

Trump has long said that he would seek an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine upon returning to the White House.

The contours of a deal remain murky, but Trump's pick for special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, has offered fairly detailed proposals for a truce. Controversially, Kellogg has said that further U.S. aid to Ukraine should be conditional on Ukraine’s willingness to participate in peace talks.

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky stoked speculation about a peace deal with his recent comments outlining some basic demands and concessions for a ceasefire, mainly that Russia can effectively control areas it currently occupies, in exchange for NATO protections being extended to the rest of Ukraine.

Rutte, a Dutch politician who just entered his second month as the head of NATO, said he will continue to advocate for efforts that increase Ukraine’s stockpile. 

“And that is what we will very much focus on the next two days, how to get more military aid into Ukraine, more missile defense into Ukraine, better coordination of everything we are doing, making sure that the command in Wiesbaden will be up and running as soon as possible, that the pledge is implemented, that is what we need to do,” he said.

Rutte pledged to ensure the sovereign nation’s stability on the battlefield as they head into a “crucial winter” that promises to spur more Russian attacks. 

“Putin is not interested in peace. He is pressing on, trying to take more territory, because he thinks he can break Ukraine’s resolve and ours,” Rutte mentioned. “But he is wrong. Ukraine has a right to defend itself, and we have a duty to help them. So we need to continue our steadfast support.”

Rutte previously dealt with Trump as the Dutch prime minister during Trump's first term. The president-elect and his foreign policy team met with Rutte on Nov. 23 to discuss a "range of issues" facing the alliance.

Zelensky in his Friday interview with Sky News said Ukraine needs to come under the NATO "umbrella" to end the "hot phase" of the war.

“We need to do it fast. And then on the [occupied] territory of Ukraine, Ukraine can get them back in a diplomatic way," he said.

Kellogg, Trump's envoy to the war, has been critical of the arms and money sent abroad to fuel Ukraine’s front lines and has instead proposed a “formal U.S. policy” to end the war rather than funding a “stalemate."

“It means working in alliances and with partners to promote regional security while requiring alliance members and allies to carry their full weight in defending security in the region,” Kellogg wrote in an America First Policy Institute report.