NATO secretary general reveals details of informal meeting with leaders, including Zelenskyy

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has revealed that his meeting with European leaders, including Volodymyr Zelenskyy, will focus on strengthening Ukraine.

Source: Rutte at a press conference with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda in Brussels on Wednesday, 18 December, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Rutte noted that the idea of meeting with Zelenskyy arose because the Ukrainian leader was scheduled to arrive in Brussels for the European Council Summit, which begins on 19 December.

"And we thought it would be good to have a dinner for the two of us. So we will do that tonight, to discuss everything to do with Ukraine at the moment and how to make sure that we can do the max to get him into a position of strength to one day when he decides to start talking with the Russians on how to end all of this," he added.

The NATO secretary general noted that, given the presence of other leaders in Brussels, "it seemed right to have a couple of them over in that meeting to discuss particularly two things".

The first thing, according to Rutte, is to provide Ukraine with more air defence assets and other weapons, particularly Patriot air defence missile systems.

"And secondly, to discuss the economy. That's why also the President of the Commission and the President of the European Council will participate, because there is a lot to be discussed in terms of how to support the Ukrainian economy," he added.

Background:

• Earlier reports indicated that on Wednesday, Zelenskyy would meet with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who also planned to bring together the leaders of several European nations for a separate discussion on the situation in Ukraine.
• Media reports suggest that the topics of these meetings may include a potential "ceasefire" in Ukraine and the deployment of European troops there.

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