NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Monday NATO membership for Ukraine was not under discussion but that there was a discussion on “Article 5” type security guarantees for the country that Russia invaded in February 2022.
Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty enshrines the principle of collective defence, in which an attack on any of its 32 members is considered an attack on all. Joining the Atlantic alliance is a strategic objective for Kyiv that is enshrined in the country’s constitution.
No NATO Membership For Ukraine
“The situation is this – that the US and some other countries have said that they are against NATO membership for Ukraine. The official NATO position … is that there is an irreversible path for Ukraine into NATO,” Rutte said during an interview on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” show.
“But what we are discussing here is not NATO membership, what we are discussing here is Article 5 type of security guarantees for Ukraine and what exactly they will entail will now be more specifically discussed.”
Rutte’s comments noted that a security guarantee of that scale could be offered to Ukraine in lieu of NATO membership, which Russian President Vladimir Putin has ruled out.
Security Guarantees
After a Friday summit with Putin in Alaska, US President Donald Trump met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO and European leaders at the White House on Monday.
Rutte told Fox News that security guarantees for Ukraine were discussed in the meeting and that there was no discussion about boots on the ground.
‘Very Good’ Meeting
Trump described Monday’s meetings as “very good” and said he called Putin to begin arrangements for a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents before a trilateral meeting that would also include Trump.
“I had a very good meeting with distinguished guests, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, President Emmanuel Macron, of France, President Alexander Stubb, of Finland, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, of Italy, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, of the United Kingdom, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Friedrich Merz, President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, in the White House, which ended in a further meeting in the Oval Office,” part of the US President’s post on Truth Social read.
“During the meeting we discussed Security Guarantees for Ukraine, which Guarantees would be provided by the various European Countries, with a coordination with the United States of America. Everyone is very happy about the possibility of PEACE for Russia/Ukraine.
“At the conclusion of the meetings, I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy. After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself.
“Again, this was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, are coordinating with Russia and Ukraine. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump said.
(With inputs from Reuters)
