NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on Tuesday that once a peace deal is signed between Russia and Ukraine, NATO troops will “instantly” deploy to Ukrainian territory.
Russia has made clear that it would never accept a peace deal that involved NATO troops deploying to Ukraine, but the Ukrainian government and many of its Western backers, known as the “coalition of the willing,” continue to insist on it, making an agreement unlikely even though peace talks resumed in the UAE on Wednesday.
“Ukraine needs strong support. The coalition of the willing has made progress on guarantees, as mentioned by Zelensky,” Rutte said during a speech to Ukraine’s parliament.
“As soon as a peace deal is signed, there will instantly appear armed forces, planes in the sky, and maritime support from those in NATO who have agreed,” Rutte added.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday that if Ukraine asks for such security guarantees during talks in Abu Dhabi, the talks would make no progress.
“I do not know what will be offered to our delegation in Abu Dhabi. I discussed with them yesterday the security guarantees that Mark Rutte spoke about yesterday in parliament in Kiev. If this is what the Ukrainians came to Abu Dhabi with, then this is another confirmation that Zelensky does not want peace,” Lavrov said, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.
Ahead of the talks in the UAE, Russia stepped up its drone and missile attacks on Ukraine, striking energy infrastructure and causing widespread power outages after a brief pause that was requested by the US.
Rutte met with Zelensky on Wednesday, and the two discussed the Russian attacks and the NATO initiative under which US allies pay for US military equipment sent to Ukraine, known as the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, or PURL.
