Kievs Western backers have only said the country could join the military bloc one day, according to Mark Rutte

Ukraine was never promised NATO membership as part of any potential settlement of its conflict with Russia, the bloc's secretary general, Mark Rutte, has said. He made the remarks in an interview with the MI Ukraina broadcaster while on a surprise trip to Ukraine on Tuesday.

Rutte said that while Kiev's Western backers have stated Ukraine would "one day" become a member of NATO, they "never promised" that this would be part of a peace deal.

"No one promised Ukraine that NATO membership would be part of the peace agreement," he reiterated.

Russia has long cited Kiev's ambitions to join NATO, which Moscow views as a hostile bloc, as one of the reasons for launching its military operation in 2022. Ukrainian neutrality remains a key demand from the Kremlin for reaching a peace deal, alongside demilitarization, denazification, and recognition of the territorial changes on the ground. Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky, however, has insisted that membership or "NATO-like security guarantees" be included in any agreement.

Rutte claimed that Ukraine's path to NATO remains "irreversible and nothing can change that," but gave no timeline for this.

The NATO chief's comments contrast with those of US President Donald Trump, who earlier this month criticized Zelensky's push for membership of the bloc. "He wants to be a member of NATO. Well, he was never going to be a member of NATO," Trump said. The US leader previously stated that he "understands" Russia's concerns about Ukraine joining the bloc, which would place NATO "right on their doorstep."

Last month, Rutte said "yes" when asked by Bloomberg if Trump had already taken the question of Ukraine's NATO accession off the table in ongoing US-Russia peace efforts.

In his interview, Rutte pledged that NATO will continue to support Ukraine during and after any future ceasefire agreement. He referenced the so-called "coalition of the willing," a group of European nations pushing to maintain military aid to Ukraine and proposing to send troops to the country, purportedly in a post-conflict peacekeeping role. Rutte said NATO is part of the coalition "as an adviser" and is "gently guiding" its direction.

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He added that the group is working on ensuring Ukraine's armed forces remain operational after an eventual deal is signed. He also stated that NATO backs the idea of sending troops to Ukraine as part of future security guarantees, but only after a ceasefire is in place and in accordance with the terms of a peace deal.

Moscow has repeatedly opposed the idea of Western troops in Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier this week that by talking about sending peacekeepers to Ukraine, Western powers are in reality trying to strengthen the anti-Russian foothold in the country rather than seeking a real settlement.

(RT.com)