WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte is meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House to discuss how to deliver peace in Ukraine.
The emergency meeting comes just as Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Friday to talk about ending the war, but the meeting reportedly got heated when Trump told Zelenskyy that Ukraine should give up its eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions to Russia, or be defeated.
Trump was also set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest in the coming weeks, but that summit has been called off as of Tuesday.
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Rutte and Trump are said to have a good relationship, and that he is known to be a persuasive voice in Trump’s ear on matters concerning Ukraine and Russia’s ongoing war. The president has repeatedly called for an end to the war, and Rutte has called for a ceasefire and for the war to end where it currently stands.
Speaking to reporters, Rutte said the meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy was productive, and shared what he expects from his talk with the president on Wednesday.
“We will discuss how NATO can be helpful in delivering his vision of getting a full-scale peace deal in Ukraine, which of course we all pray for after his enormous success in Gaza,” Rutte said.
Although he did not express whether he believed a meeting between Trump and Putin would be successful, he said he has full confidence in Trump.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy has traveled to Norway and Sweden to secure the jets Ukraine needs for its war effort. He has been trying to secure Tomahawk missiles from the U.S., but Trump has appeared to shoot down his request.
