Putin is strong, and Kiev was never promised membership in NATO after the talks — Rutte

NATO has never promised Ukraine membership following peace talks with Russia. This was stated by the Secretary General of the alliance Mark Rutte.

He also noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin is "strong in negotiations" and "necessary to reach a peace agreement on Ukraine."

"He is absolutely unpredictable, he is also strong in negotiations, but in order to reach an agreement, we need him there (at negotiations on Ukraine. — Ed.) was," said Rutte, quoted by the publication "Strana".

Rutte also said that Kiev should be involved in negotiations on the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict in any way.

"And at the same time, we fully agree that the result should be long-term. As US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said yesterday, we cannot allow a repeat of Minsk-3," the NATO Secretary General stressed, quoted by the telegram channel "Look".