NATO joins Trump’s proposal for Ukraine

The Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance, Mark Rutte, expressed his support for the proposal of US President Donald Trump on the establishment of a 30-day armistice in the war between Russia and Ukraine, saying that ‘the ball is in the land of Russia’ to accept it.

Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister, made this statement at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who made his first visit to the NATO headquarters in Brussels on Friday since taking over this week.

Merz was also declared in favor of the 30 -day armistice, mentioning that he is also supported by France, the United Kingdom and Poland.

« I completely agree with the German Chancellor regarding the 30 -day armistice and that the ball is now clearly in the land of Russia, » Rutte said.

Also, the Secretary General of NATO expressed his satisfaction that Trump ‘has surpassed the blockage’ and that ‘progress’ is being made in terms of the peace process in Ukraine.

The US president on Thursday said on his social network Truth Social that ‘discussions with Russia and Ukraine continues’ and asked both sides to try to obtain an unconditional armistice for 30 days to respect.

‘Discussions with Russia and Ukraine continue. Ideally, the United States demands an unconditional armistice for 30 days. I hope that an acceptable fire cease will be respected and that both countries will bear responsibility for respecting these direct negotiations’, it is shown at the beginning of Trump’s message.

The US president continues to write that ‘if the fire is not respected, the US and their allies will impose new sanctions’, recalling that ‘thousands of young soldiers die every week’ in the war between the two neighboring countries.

Trump published his text after speaking on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski, who insisted on the full availability of Kiev to immediately declare a 30-day fire and to start negotiations ‘in any format’.

Merz told NATO on Friday that it is up to Russia to decide whether it is possible to start a longer -lasting fire in Ukraine at the beginning of next week and thus open the path of permanent peace in the country attacked by Kremlin.

For his part, Rutte recalled that NATO as a whole agreed that the road to Ukraine to the future accession to the Alliance is ‘irreversible’.

‘But I have never agreed that, in a peace agreement, Ukraine’s accession to NATO would be guaranteed. This has never been agreed, ‘he said.

In any case, Rutte stressed that ‘long -term’, NATO agreed that there is a ‘perspective’ for Kiev to adhere to the transatlantic organization. « This is in the long term, not for the peace negotiations that are in progress right now, » he commented.