“I can only tell you that I had an incredibly good meeting with President Trump,” Rutte told reporters, praising Trump's leadership, getting allies to increase defense spending, and his pledge to support European security guarantees for Ukraine.
Referring to the sanctions imposed by the US on Russian oil companies, Rutte said that they could force Russia to accept the ceasefire proposal submitted by Donald Trump and supported by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and NATO.
— Look at the Russian economy: long lines of cars at gas stations, the fact that the Ukrainians have already attacked 1/3 of Russia's oil and gas infrastructure, which is the basis of their economy. I am absolutely convinced that it may not happen today or tomorrow, but we will achieve this goal, said the NATO Secretary General in an interview with Fox News.
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What are the effects of sanctions on Russian oil companies?
How many soldiers did the Russian army lose in September?
Who supports the ceasefire proposal?
How long can Tomahawk missile training take?
“I am absolutely convinced”
In a later statement to a wider group of journalists, he emphasized the scale of Russian losses in the war against Ukraine – in his opinion, the Russian army lost over 20,000 in September alone. soldiers.
— Killed, not seriously injured. Killed! They have already lost a million dead and seriously wounded since the beginning of this war, so in this month alone these losses were greater than during the entire 10-year war in Afghanistan (…) All this has its effect. So I am absolutely convinced that if we keep up the pressure, we will be able to get Putin to come to the negotiating table and agree to a ceasefire, he said.
In an interview with CNN, Rutte refused to take a position on possible deliveries of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, but pointed to the statement of President Trump, who during a meeting in the Oval Office noted that training to operate these missiles may take 6-12 months.
The NATO Secretary General did not agree with the statement that Trump is susceptible to changing his views under the influence of talks with Putin. — This is an issue extremely close to his heart, and given his strong position and his vision on this issue, he is the only person who can meet with Putin and persuade him to change his views, give him a little leeway to do so. That's his view, said the Dutchman.
