Trump is doing what the world needs right now

The Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Mark Rutte, who is 58 years old and is close to US President Donald Trump, considered that Trump is playing the role that the world currently needs, noting that the 5% target for defense spending, which was adopted at the Hague summit, is considered one of Trump’s biggest foreign policy achievements within Europe.

In an interview with Politico newspaper, Rutte expressed his hope that the ongoing war in Ukraine would stop before the end of this year, stressing the importance of providing strong security guarantees to Ukraine if its membership in NATO was unable to be accepted, in order to prevent Russia from trying to launch a new attack on it in the future.

Below are excerpts from the interview:

■ Do you view the Ukraine peace plan as an asset or an opportunity?

■■ What I really like about US President Donald Trump is that since last February he has worked with determination to break the stalemate with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and then push towards ending this war. The peace plan, which was presented recently, formed a basis for discussions between the United States and Ukraine, and served as a solid basis for dialogue about the future solution.

■ Russia wants to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO in the future. Don’t Kiev and the alliance have the right to make this decision themselves?

■■ Russia does not have the power to vote or use veto power on the issue of any country joining NATO, but within the alliance the acceptance of any new member requires the consensus of all member states, and the alliance had acknowledged that Ukraine was on an irreversible path towards membership. However, a number of allies, including the United States, expressed their opposition to Ukraine’s accession at the present time, and when looking at the peace plan, it is clear that if it is not possible to accept Ukraine as a member of NATO now, then we should at least Providing strong security guarantees to prevent Russia from attempting to launch a new attack on it in the future.

■ But will the door to membership remain open to Ukraine?

■■ According to the Washington Treaty of 1949, any country in the Euro-Atlantic region has the right to apply to join the alliance, but without the agreement of all allies, acceptance of any new country becomes impossible.

■ The Europeans have not participated in the negotiations since the peace plan began. Will Europe have an actual role in the process, especially with regard to financing or reconstruction?

■■ I completely disagree with this proposal. Europe also has its own peace initiative, and since February there have been intense discussions between European countries, the United States, and Canada about finding a path to end the war. The “Coalition of the Willing” is one of the direct results of these discussions, as it determines the nature of the security guarantees that will be granted after reaching a peace agreement. American military purchases within the “Boral” program in support of Ukraine also came as a result of these consultations.

■ Do you think it is possible to end the war before the end of the year?

■■ Of course, we all hope that this war will end as soon as possible, and for my part, I will do everything in my power to support President Trump’s vision, which aims to stop the fighting, and I generally agree with him on the necessity of ending this war without delay.

■ Since assuming the position of Secretary-General of NATO, you have met Trump several times. Does the United States deal with all members of the alliance equally?

■■ All allies are important to me, but it cannot be denied that the United States has the strongest army in the world without rival, and is the ultimate guarantor of Europe’s security thanks to its nuclear umbrella. Its military presence on the European continent is large and pivotal, as it has provided basic capabilities on which the alliance depends.

As for President Trump, I really appreciate his role very much, and I have a good acquaintance with him since I was Prime Minister of the Netherlands during his 45th presidency of the United States, and I believe that he is fulfilling exactly the role that the world needs now. The 5% target for defense spending that was approved at the Hague summit is considered one of his biggest achievements in foreign policy within Europe, and when Trump makes a phone call with Putin, he makes a real difference, so I see that everyone feels comfortable. Because he is in the presidency. About “El Pais”