We need to make sure Putin never tries to attack Ukraine again, NATO chief says

NATO’s support for Ukraine remains “unwavering” and “continues to grow,” the alliance Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Friday during a visit to Kyiv. 

After the meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Rutte said there are more plans to provide NATO funding to ensure “a crucial flow of lethal US weapons to Ukraine.”

Following Monday's multilateral meeting at the White House, Rutte said US President Donald Trump made it clear “the United States will indeed be involved in providing security guarantees for Ukraine.”

"We are now working together — Ukraine, the Europeans, the United States — to make sure that these security guarantees are of such a level that Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin sitting in Moscow will never try to attack Ukraine again," Rutte said at a press conference. 

Rutte said the security guarantees agreement will consist of two layers: strengthening Ukraine’s army and commitments from the US and Europe aimed at deterring Russia in the event of future aggression.

According to Rutte, discussions about deploying foreign troops to Ukraine as part of security guarantees are ongoing, but "it is too early to say what will be the outcome."

"It’s still too early to say who might provide troops, who will contribute intelligence, who will be present at sea, and who — in the air," Zelenskyy added.

"Ukraine needs security guarantees so that we, our children, and grandchildren can be certain that Russia will not attack us. These are guarantees of security against an aggressor" Ukraine’s president said. 

Zelenskyy-Putin meeting

After Donald Trump met Vladimir Putin in Alaska and then Volodymyr Zelenskyy together with the European leaders at the White House two days later, he said that the next step in the fast moving diplomatic process would be a meeting between the presidents of Ukraine and Russia. 

Zelenskyy repeatedly said that he is ready to meet Putin, but the Kremlin rejected this possibility every time. 

The White House has been working to secure a summit location and date under the initiative of Donald Trump, but Moscow signalled on Friday, that the Kremlin is not expecting a meeting any time soon. 

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said no meeting is planned between Putin and Zelenskyy, despite Trump’s efforts to broker such talks.  

“Putin is ready to meet with Zelenskyy when the agenda is ready for a summit, and this agenda is not ready at all,” Lavrov told NBC News, repeating a long-standing Kremlin statement. 

Speaking at the joint press conference with Mark Rutte in Kyiv, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Moscow is doing everything to ensure that a meeting between the leaders of Ukraine, the US and Russia does not take place.

"The question of ending the war must be resolved at the leadership level, but we can see now that the Russians are doing everything to prevent a meeting. Ukraine, unlike Russia, is not afraid of any meetings with leaders. We are ready to work productively, to the maximum,” Zelenskyy claimed, adding that he hopes that "partners will help ensure at least a minimal productive stance from the Russian side."

He said that "everything must be done so that Russia can no longer avoid the meeting."

“They must be forced into diplomacy; truly strong sanctions are needed if they (Russia) do not agree to a diplomatic resolution of this war, if they do not want to end the war. We are counting heavily on strong (sanction) packages from our partners."