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NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told Fox News that his Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump on Wednesday confirmed that he believes the Trump administration is taking the right approach in its effort to end the war in Ukraine, despite the recent cancellation of a planned Trump-Putin meeting.
The meeting came days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the White House and focused on ways to increase momentum following a peace deal in the Middle East.
“We, collectively, are able to change Vladimir Putin’s calculations,” Rutte told “Special Report,” explaining how recent secondary sanctions on India and the suggestion of sending long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine prompted the Russian leader to pick up the phone.
Rutte also cited steady Russian gains and heavy losses as a driving force for finally ending the more than three-year-long war.
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Rutte expressed optimism over the Trump administration’s outlook due to economic hardship he said has triggered a war within Russia, long lines of cars waiting for gas due to Ukrainian attacks and severe supply shortages caused by sanctions.
The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, Russia’s two biggest oil companies, after Russian drone and missile attacks across Ukraine killed at least six people.
Fox News chief political anchor Brett Baer pushed Rutte back for his optimism, saying attacks in Ukraine have increased after he attempted to communicate with Putin in the past. Following the August Alaska summit, Russia launched a massive drone and missile attack across Ukraine.
“What would you say to critics who say these communications with Putin let him off the hook?” Byer asked.
Amid cancellation of meeting with Putin, Trump meets with NATO route: ‘I didn’t think it was right’
“We always knew it was not going to be easy…” Rutte said.
“This will not end tomorrow or the day after,” he said.
He called Trump’s closer cooperation with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on blocking Russian oil sales as another positive step, while also pointing to NATO’s unity in deterring potential threats.
Over the past six weeks, three Russian aircraft took off from Estonian airspace and drones crossed into Poland. Both are NATO countries.
“NATO reacted exactly as we should,” Rutte said. “We have trained and prepared for this.”
The Secretary-General also made it clear that, in the future, if Russian aircraft pose a threat, NATO can shoot them down if necessary. If they do not pose a threat, they will be intercepted and directed out of NATO airspace.
Rutte stressed his confidence that Trump will stick to his promise to end the killing.
“He’s truly a peacemaker,” Root said. “He wants to end this war. It’s close to his heart.”
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He also stressed the importance of immediately calming the conflict lines and bringing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin to the table for meetings.
“You stay where you are, and then you can debate a lot of other things later,” Root said.
