Mark Rutte reported to journalists in front of the White House his talks with the American president and his national security advisor Michael Waltz and the Secretary of State Marco Rubio. NATO Secretary General said that the conversation concerned primarily the expenditure on the defense of the alliance and the upcoming peak in The Hague. He added, however, that he also discussed negotiations regarding the war in Ukraine.
As he said, Wednesday's talks with Ukraine in London were positive.
“We have something on the table now, the Ukrainians really took up the game and it is clear that the ball is now on the side of Russia,” said the Dutchman. He admitted that he did not know if Vladimir Putin wants peace. He also refused to provide details about the concessions that were required from Ukraine and denied the reports of the “Financial Times” that his visit to Washington was aimed at visiting Trump's administration from attempts to force Ukraine to accept an unfavorable arrangement, including the recognition of the annexation of Crimea.
Rutte about the withdrawal of US troops from Europe
When asked whether he obtained from Trump an obligation to leave American soldiers in Europe at its current level, Rutte did not answer directly, but suggested that the US intended to reduce their military presence on the continent, which he considered justified.
-As you know, the United States must take care of many theaters, including the Middle East, including indo-pacific. And I said earlier, since President Obama had a return towards Asia. The question here is how to make sure that the United States is able to take care of all these areas and at the same time that we collect the Euro -Atlantic area collectively, this is what we are working on – he said.
-We have complete commitment on our part in NATO, a total commitment on the famous fifth article, and the attack on one is an attack on all, but also a clear commitment that we must speed up expenses in Europe, make more ourselves so that it is possible for us to be possible for Americans to spend more time and resources to Indo-Pacific, which I consider logical-he added.
He also emphasized that the entire alliance is consistent that Russia is a long -term threat to Europe's security.
Rutte said that until the summit in the Hague of the state such as Belgium, Spain and Italy, they are to meet the requirement of defensive expenses of 2 %. GDP, although he noted that this is not enough for NATO to be able to defend its territory. He noted that the required level is “significantly above 3 percent”
– It is not based on any assumptions, but on careful planning. We know exactly what abilities we need to achieve. We know the gaps that we need to fill in to maintain the security of NATO territory. And the good thing is that by spending so much more on the European Canada side, it will level with what the US pay for this defense – said the Secretary General of the Alliance, forecasting that the alliance's defense expenses will be calculated soon in billions, not billions.
Earlier on Thursday, Rutte met with the head of Pentagon Pet HegeSthem, and later he had planned meetings with Waltz and Rubio. Meetings with Trump were not in his original plans.
