Rutte: Russia has no say in Ukraine’s NATO membership

He made this remark in an interview with El Pais, Ukrinform reports.

Commenting on Russia’s efforts to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO, Rutte recalled that “Russia has no vote and no veto over who becomes a NATO member.” At the same time, he noted that within the Alliance, membership decisions must be unanimous.

“At the Washington summit, we decided that Ukraine is on an irreversible path toward NATO. At the same time, several allies, including the U.S., have said they are currently opposed to Ukraine joining,” he said.

According to Rutte, within the framework of the U.S. peace plan, Ukraine must be provided with sufficiently reliable security guarantees so that Russia will never attempt to attack Ukraine again if NATO membership is not an option.

“The first question is how to keep the Ukrainian Armed Forces strong, the second is what a coalition of the willing can provide, and the third is what the U.S. will contribute, since President Trump has said before meeting Putin in Alaska, that he wants to be involved in security guarantees. That discussion is ongoing,” Rutte said.

When asked whether Ukraine could join NATO in the future, the NATO chief replied that the 1949 Washington Treaty allows any country in the Euro-Atlantic region to join. “But without unanimity among all allies, it isn’t possible,” he added.

Rutte also expressed his belief that Russia remains a long-term threat to Europe.

“If a Russian president is willing to sacrifice a million of his own people for this fallacy to correct history, we must be prepared. That’s why we need to spend so much more in our defense. A peace plan doesn’t change the assessment that Russia is a long-term threat to Europe,” the Secretary General said.

Earlier reports indicated that the Trump administration held secret consultations with Russians to develop a new plan to end the war in Ukraine. According to Axios, this plan consisted of 28 points divided into four general blocks: peace in Ukraine, security guarantees, European security, and future U.S. relations with Russia and Ukraine.

In particular, Kyiv was reportedly expected to relinquish certain territories in the Donbas under Ukrainian control, reduce its army, and give up a significant portion of its weaponry. The transfer of the remaining Donbas territories was supposed to come in exchange for U.S. security guarantees for Kyiv and Europe, the mechanisms of which were not clearly defined.

Following negotiations in Geneva between Ukrainian and American delegations, both sides agreed to continue working on joint proposals for a peace agreement. They confirmed that any future deal must fully respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and ensure a sustainable and just peace. An updated draft framework for peace was prepared as a result of the talks.

Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov stated that Ukrainian and U.S. delegations in Geneva reached a mutual understanding on the key conditions of a peace agreement. The final stages of the arrangements are expected to take place during President Zelenskyy’s upcoming visit to the U.S. later in November.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized that after the Geneva talks, the “peace plan” contains fewer points.

According to Bloomberg, the plan was reduced from 28 points to 19 following the Geneva negotiations.

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi stated that issues concerning the European Union and NATO within the peace plan will be placed on a separate negotiation track.