NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin is the main reason why the Russian-Ukrainian war continues to this day. He stated this in an interview with Bild, UNN writes.
Details
When asked by journalists why it is so difficult to end the war in Ukraine, despite the high hopes for peace at the beginning of the year, Rutte replied.
"The reason is Putin," the NATO Secretary General replied.
He added that the Russian leader is ready to sacrifice 1.1 million of his people, without achieving significant military victories.
This year, he (Putin - ed.) has made only very little progress - minimal territorial gains, less than 1% of Ukrainian territory compared to the beginning of the year. And according to our estimates, up to 1.1 million people have been killed or wounded on the Russian side. This is terrible. But this is the situation we are dealing with.
He added that US President Donald Trump, who came to power in January, and with whose arrival great hopes for an end to the war were associated, "is absolutely committed to this issue."
He is focused on ending this war. He is the only one who has been able to bring Putin to the negotiating table - and the only one who can ultimately force him to make peace. I have great respect for him for that.
Recall
On December 11, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte denied reports that the US plans to shift most of the burden of defending Europe to European countries by 2027. He noted that Europe must step up its defense, but the Reuters report was incorrect.