NATO Secretary General outlines conditions for Ukraine-Russia negotiations

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated that the Alliance's strategy involves providing military assistance to Ukraine, and if at some point, Kyiv begins negotiations with Russia to end the war, it will do so from a position of strength.

Rutte emphasised at a briefing with Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa that NATO provides military assistance for Ukraine and will not allow Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin to achieve his goals in Ukraine. 

The NATO Secretary General reported that the United States and other countries are providing significant support to Ukraine, and the main task now is to ensure that Ukraine can continue to resist aggression.

"If ever one day Zelenskyy and his team will decide to discuss with Russia how to end this, then he will do this from a position of strength," Rutte added.

Earlier, former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that only Ukraine has the right to decide whether to agree to negotiations with Russia, and the main task of partners is to continue providing support to make Ukraine as strong as possible.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently reiterated in Berlin that he would like to see an end to the war by no later than 2025 and announced that he would present a plan to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to help achieve this.

On Wednesday, 16 October, Zelenskyy revealed details of his Victory Plan, which consists of five points and is essentially a "plan to compel Russia to peace".