MOSCOW 

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte visited Kyiv on Friday and promised US and NATO participation in certain "security guarantees" for Ukraine, which include strengthening the Ukrainian armed forces.

Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Rutte said these security assurances would serve only as a second layer of defense.

"Robust security guarantees will be essential – and this is what we are now working to define. So that when the time comes for you to enter that bilateral meeting – you have the unmistakable force of Ukraine’s friends behind you. Ensuring that Russia will uphold any deal. And will never, ever again attempt to take one square kilometer of Ukraine," he said.

The primary focus remains on enhancing the Ukrainian military after the ongoing conflict with Russia concludes, he said.

The NATO chief said the plan would involve two layers of protection for Ukraine.

"Yes, well, let's first agree the importance of the fact that Ukraine, the US and Europe are working together, and when we talk about security guarantees, let's also agree that there are two layers," he said.

"Layer number one will be after a peace deal, slash a long-term cease fire, or a combination of the two. The first layer has to be for the Ukrainian Armed Forces to be as strong as possible to defend this proud country and nation going forward. And the second layer has to be the security guarantees provided by Europe and the US, and that's what we are working on," he explained.

Rejecting the possibility of repeating earlier agreements, Rutte stressed: "Clearly, we do not want to repeat of the Budapest Memorandum or the Minsk agreement. These security guarantees should be holding. And as I said, as a second layer on top of building the Ukrainian Armed Forces after the war moving forward, and NATO will be heavily involved there."

He highlighted NATO’s current role in supporting Kyiv. "We are already, of course, heavily involved through our commands in Wiesbaden, which is helping Ukraine to stay in the fight now, but also to help Ukraine to develop its armed forces as a sovereign, proud nation going forward after the peace deal. So, NATO is proudly involved in all of that."

The NATO chief also underlined the importance of recent high-level talks involving key European leaders, the US president, European Commission head, and NATO chief.

Rutte praised Trump's leadership, saying he broke the “deadlock” with Moscow.