Nato’s secretary general said he wants to discuss ways to put Ukraine in a position of strength for any future peace talks with Russia during a meeting on Wednesday with Ukraine’s president and a small number of European leaders.
But Mark Rutte appeared frustrated at growing speculation in Nato capitals about when those peace talks might start and whether European peacekeepers would be involved, saying that speaking publicly about it plays into the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“High on the agenda is to make sure that the president, his team in Ukraine, are in the best possible position one day when they decide so to start the peace talks,” Rutte told reporters as he welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to his residence in Brussels.
The focus, Rutte said, must be “to do everything now to make sure that when it comes to air defence, when it comes to other weapons systems, that we make sure that we provide whatever we can”.
He said that another issue up for discussion would be “how to make sure that when peace comes one day that we also think about the economy of Ukraine now, but also after a future peace deal”.
Zelensky posted on Telegram that he would hold talks with the leaders of the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands and Poland and UK representatives, who were in Brussels. He is also due to take part in an EU summit in the Belgian capital on Thursday.