Rutte plans visit to Trump in Mar-a-Lago to discuss strategy for Ukraine - WP
Kyiv • UNN
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is preparing to visit the residence of the US President-elect to discuss peace talks on Ukraine. European leaders note the constructive dialogue with Trump on the Ukrainian issue.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is expected to visit US President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence soon to discuss the strategy of peace talks on Ukraine, The Washington Post columnist David Ignatius reports, citing sources, UNN writes.
Details
As noted, European leaders have been in contact with Trump since his victory on November 5. They are said to have "faced the fact that the US president-elect is asking questions about Ukraine rather than making demands." An example is a call from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz the weekend after Trump's election. "What do you think of [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy's victory plan? What do you think of Putin?" Trump asked, according to a senior German official familiar with the call.
The Europeans have collected notes on similar calls from the leaders of France, Poland, Denmark, the Czech Republic, and other countries. "The calls were more friendly than expected, and Trump was more of a listening person - well-prepared and not chatty," said a German official.
These optimistic comments undoubtedly reflect Europe's desire to develop a good working relationship with Trump in a time of crisis and turmoil, the journalist notes.
Several officials reportedly said that "Europe's main representative in discussions with Trump is likely to be Mark Rutte, the former Dutch prime minister who is the new NATO secretary general." Rutte has been called "Trump's whisperer," in part because he calmed the then-president after a tirade about NATO in 2018, agreeing that Trump was right to demand that allies spend more on defense.
Rutte is expected to travel to Mar-a-Lago soon to discuss strategy for Ukraine peace negotiations that Trump has said he wants, officials told me
"Rutte's message will be that Trump's interests and Europe's interests are served by a 'just and lasting peace,' one that does not encourage Russian aggression and can provide credible security guarantees for Ukraine," a senior German official predicted.
"A bad deal would hurt Trump as much as it would hurt Europe, Rutte and others would probably advise: "Remember that you need to decide on Ukraine in a way that does not come back to bite you during your term," is how a German official described the message to Trump. The condition for any successful peace deal is that "this war will never happen again" because Ukraine's security will be protected, the Europeans say," the journalist notes.
During a private meeting in Brussels this week with NATO defense ministers, Rutte reportedly urged European leaders to engage with Trump. "Don't gossip about Trump. Call him and get him on board," Rutte advised, according to one European official who attended the meeting. - "Make sure America stays on our side.
Rutte also called on European defense ministers to significantly increase their defense spending above the target of two percent of gross domestic product.
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