NATO chief says European security guarantees need to be backed up by US

ISTANBUL

NATO's secretary general said Thursday that any security guarantees for Ukraine provided by Europe would need to be backed by the US.

“Strong security guarantees, if provided by European countries, need a backup by the United States,” Mark Rutte said during a speech at Comenius University in Slovakia.

He also reaffirmed that the US was not against a suggestion by the UK to deploy British troops in Ukraine, adding the US does not want its own troops on the ground.

Rutte also reiterated his “optimism” about US President Donald Trump’s peace initiative for Ukraine, adding that a US backup would “make it possible for European countries to help there.”

He said it is important to make sure that the peace deal is “lasting” and “enduring.”

US-European relations have grown tense after Trump initiated direct discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin about Ukraine peace talks, excluding European leaders.

At the Munich Security Conference over the weekend, Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy for Russia and Ukraine, confirmed that Europeans would not be invited to planned US-Russia talks on Ukraine peace.

Adding to the tensions, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested that European nations, rather than the US, should provide peacekeeping troops to Ukraine.

He emphasized that any such deployment should be non-NATO and would not be covered under Article 5 of NATO’s collective defense clause, stressing that US troops would not be involved in any security guarantees.