Rutte vowed when he took office on Tuesday to help shore up Western support for Ukraine, which has been fighting Russia’s full-scale invasion since February 2022.
New NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has visited Ukraine in his first official trip since taking office and pledged the alliance’s continued support for Kyiv in its war with Russia.
Rutte met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv as air raid sirens twice went off in the Ukrainian capital.
The NATO chief vowed when he took office on Tuesday to help shore up Western support for Ukraine, which has been fighting Russia’s full-scale invasion since February 2022 and has for most of this year been on the defensive due to a relentless Russian army push in the country’s eastern regions.
“Ukraine obviously has the right to defend itself. And international law here is on the side of Ukraine, meaning that this right does not end at the border. And Russia is pursuing this illegal war,” he said.
“And that means that targeting Russian fighter jets and missiles before they can be used against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure can help save lives. The only country here that has crossed a red line is not Ukraine – it is Russia, by starting this war.”
Rutte also said recent steps had been taken by NATO to “build a bridge to NATO membership” for Ukraine, including €40 billion of funding assistance, bilateral security agreements between allies and the formation of a new NATO command to coordinate assistance and training.
Zelenskyy said he discussed with Rutte elements of Ukraine’s so-called victory plan, ahead of a NATO meeting at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany next week.
The gathering draws together defence leaders from the 50-plus partner nations who regularly meet to coordinate weapons aid for the war.
The two also discussed the battlefield situation and the specific needs of Ukrainian military units.
Zelenskyy reiterated that Ukraine needs more armaments, including long-range weapons it has long requested.
“We definitely want Ukraine not to be forgotten. But the best option to not forget about Ukraine is to respond with weapons, to give the appropriate permission, it seems to me,” Zelenskyy said.
“And to help shoot down the enemy drones, by the way, the same Iranian missiles or drones, shoot them down in the same way as they shoot them down in the sky of Israel.”
And appealing for better cooperation in combatting the Russian air threat was something Zelenskyy also touched on later in his nightly video address, highlighting the need to strengthen frontline defences before the onset of the bitter Ukrainian winter.
“Air defence for Ukraine is equally important before the winter and real progress is being made in jointly shooting down Russian missiles and drones. We see that one of the main reasons for the security deficit in the skies of Ukraine and in particular near the borders of NATO, is the lack of decisions on joint work and joint defence. What works in the skies of the Middle East and helps Israel’s defence can also work in the skies of our part of Europe and help save lives,” he said.
Glide bomb attack on Kharkiv
Those comments come on the same day a three-year-old girl was amongst at least 12 people injured from a glide bomb that struck a five-storey apartment block in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, local officials said on Thursday.
The bomb hit between the third and fourth floors of the building on Wednesday night, igniting blazes, Kharkiv’s Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
Firefighters searched for survivors through smoke and rubble.
Located around 30 kilometres from the Russian border, Kharkiv has been a frequent target of aerial attacks throughout Russia’s war against Ukraine, which is now deep into its third year.
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