NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte reacted to the thesis that US President Donald Trump rejected the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO with a restrained "uh-huh" in an interview with Bloomberg, writes UNN.
The media reports that Rutte answered "yes" affirmatively about the fact that Ukraine's accession to the Alliance is no longer being considered.
However, Bloomberg journalist said to Rutte: "Trump has already rejected (the possibility - ed.) of Ukraine joining NATO", to which the Secretary General responded with a short "uh-huh". He did not say anything more specific, but he did not deny this statement either.
In addition, Rutte told Bloomberg that relations with Russia should eventually be normalized when hostilities in Ukraine cease, but this has not yet been achieved and "we must continue to put pressure on them to make sure that Russia takes the negotiations seriously".
Addition
On February 14, a senior US official, John Cole, said on Thursday that the United States does not rule out the possibility of Ukraine's potential membership in NATO or a return through negotiations to its borders before 2014, which contradicts comments made earlier by the US Secretary of Defense before possible peace talks to end the war in Ukraine.
On February 26, US President Donald Trump said that within the framework of an agreement to end the war, Ukraine can forget about NATO and believes that the war started because of him.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has proposed extending Article 5 of the NATO Statute to Ukraine without granting the country membership in the military alliance, a step that she said would be a "guarantee of stable, long-term, effective security" compared to sending troops to ensure a ceasefire, a proposal she criticized as "the most difficult".