All of Nato, including US, ‘totally committed' to keeping Ukraine in fight, Rutte says
Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte (left) and US President Donald Trump at the Nato summit in the Netherlands on June 25. PHOTO: NYTIMES
All of Nato, including US, 'totally committed' to keeping Ukraine in fight, Rutte says
THE HAGUE - The whole of Nato, including the United States, is 'totally committed' to keeping Ukraine in the fight against Russia's invasion, alliance secretary-general Mark Rutte told Reuters in an interview on June 25.
Speaking at the end of a summit of Nato leaders in The Hague, Mr Rutte also said nobody in Nato was naive about Russia and all alliance members 'have more or less the same assessment' of Moscow.
US President Donald Trump's more conciliatory stance towards Russia in his efforts to bring an end to the war in Ukraine has prompted questions about US commitments to Kyiv.
'The whole of Nato, including the United States, is totally committed to keep Ukraine in the fight, to make sure that if there is a peace deal, that peace deal - or the ceasefire - will be lasting, will be durable,' Mr Rutte said.
He said the clear direction of travel was that Europeans would be responsible for more of the military aid to Ukraine.
But he said the US would still be 'very much involved with intelligence-sharing, with also practical military support' including potentially air defence systems.
'I think there will still be a huge, big American involvement,' Mr Rutte said.
The Trump administration has also told Europeans that they must take over primary responsibility for their own security, rather than relying on the US through Nato.
Mr Rutte said this process would be possible as Europeans had committed to spending more on defence, and it would be 'well-organised' to avoid any gaps that Russia could exploit.
'I've had these discussions in Washington over the last couple of months,' he said.
'For years, the US has said 'we have to pivot more towards Asia'. Now that the Europeans are stepping up, that also makes it possible,' he said.
'You will see that what the US is delivering to Nato in terms of capabilities will gradually come down. But there's also total clarity from the US that they don't want any capability gaps to emerge in Europe,' Mr Rutte said. REUTERS
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