NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte clarified on February 13 that NATO’s commitments regarding Ukraine’s membership are not linked to any future “peace negotiations.”
Rutte made this statement during a press conference in Brussels following a meeting of NATO defense ministers. He reminded attendees that at the Washington summit, NATO made commitments regarding Ukraine’s future membership.
“But there was never an agreement that if peace negotiations were to start, those peace negotiations would always and inevitably result in NATO membership,” he added.
Rutte further emphasized that, regardless of the outcome of “peace negotiations,” the Alliance must “ensure that Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin never, ever tries to attack Ukraine again,” noting that such guarantees could take various forms.
“But Ukraine was never promised that as part of a ‘peace agreement’ it would be in NATO,” Rutte concluded.
