Rutte rules out Russian veto on Ukraine joining NATO

Russia has no veto over Kyiv’s bid to join NATO, alliance chief Mark Rutte said on Wednesday — rebuffing a peace deal proposal floated by Moscow and Washington that would block Ukraine from the alliance.

“Russia has neither a vote nor a veto over who can be a member of NATO,” Rutte said in an interview with El País and German outlet RND. The alliance’s founding Washington Treaty “allows any country in the Euro-Atlantic area to join,” he added.

Rutte’s comments follow a U.S.-led proposal to end Russia’s full-scale war, leaked last week, which included the provision that NATO agree “it will not accept Ukraine at any moment in the future.”

The 28-point plan has since been modified into a 19-point one that waters down some of its most pro-Russian elements. An alternative European proposal scraps the idea of excluding Ukraine from NATO.

Rutte took some of the sting out of his comment by insisting that he has positive feelings for U.S. President Donald Trump. “I like the guy,” he said.

NATO allies have balked at issuing an immediate invitation for Ukraine to join the organization, but members last year agreed that Kyiv’s bid was “irreversible” — a statement Rutte has repeated since despite opposition to the country’s accession by Trump and other member countries.

The NATO secretary-general acknowledged that several “allies … currently oppose Ukraine’s accession.”

Rutte said the current peace plan, which came after broader diplomatic talks in Geneva on Sunday, provided a “good foundation for further discussions,” but added that any proposal will require a “separate, parallel discussion” with NATO “on certain issues.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that any decision about Ukraine’s bid to join the EU or the alliance should not be made unilaterally.

“Nothing about Europe without Europe, nothing about NATO without NATO,” she told European Parliament lawmakers.

Rutte also said the alliance would deliver a total of $5 billion in weapons to Ukraine as part of a NATO-led scheme that has European allies buying U.S. arms for Kyiv “by the end of this year.”

Eleven countries have so far contributed to five $500 million packages as part of the so-called PURL program, with a sixth package expected in the coming days. The remaining money will come from a mixture of future packages and off-cycle payments, according to a person familiar with the matter, who was granted anonymity to speak freely on the sensitive topic.

Rutte warned that Moscow will not stop jeopardizing Europe’s security even if it agrees to a peace deal. “Russia will continue to be a long-term threat for a long time,” he said.