'Restore Relationship With Trump': NATO Chief To Zelenskyy After White House Showdown

Last Updated:March 02, 2025, 06:51 IST

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said he told Zelenskyy that “he really had to respect what President Trump has done so far for Ukraine.”

NATO chief Mark Rutte with UKrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. (Reuters/File)

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has said he told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he had to “find a way to restore his relationship with the American president" after the two leaders engaged in an extraordinary meltdown at the White House on Friday.

Rutte told the BBC on Saturday that he told Zelenskyy that “he really had to respect what (US) President (Donald) Trump has done so far for Ukraine." He was referring to the first Trump administration’s decision in 2019 to supply Ukraine with Javelin antitank missiles that Ukraine used to deadly effect against Russian tanks in the first wave of the 2022 invasion.

Calling the Friday meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy “unfortunate," Rutte said he “knew as a fact that the American administration is extremely invested in making sure that Ukraine gets to a durable peace" with Russia.

Rutte said he expected European leaders, who were meeting in London on Sunday, to help secure a future peace deal by providing Ukraine with security guarantees.

London, United Kingdom (UK)

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