• NATO chief also acknowledges Türkiye's key diplomatic role with Ukraine-Russia talks and NATO foreign ministers' meeting, saying: 'The convening power of Türkiye is clearly there. We can see it every day.'

GENEVA

The NATO chief said Thursday that Ukraine is ready to negotiate for peace, but the responsibility now lies with Moscow to respond meaningfully to Kyiv's willingness.

"Ukraine is clearly ready to play ball, but that ball is now in the Russian court," Secretary General Mark Rutte told reporters during a press briefing in the southern Turkish city of Antalya, where a meeting of NATO foreign ministers is taking place.

"The Russians are sending a low-level delegation now and not taking up the opportunity President (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy has been providing. He said, 'I'm willing to sit with Putin as soon as the ceasefire is there, we are willing to negotiate a peace deal'."

Rutte reiterated that any future agreement on Ukraine must be credible and enduring, drawing lessons from the failures of past accords.

"It has to be lasting. It has to be durable. We cannot have a repeat of what happened in 2014-15, with the Minsk agreement (over conflict in Eastern Ukraine), which was basically challenged still when the ink was not dry," he said.

He also underlined the importance of international coordination and expressed appreciation for the growing number of initiatives supporting Ukraine, including the "coalition of the willing" that includes Türkiye.

"Clearly, Türkiye is playing an important role here," Rutte said, responding to a question about the host country of the current NATO meeting and also the peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.

"The convening power of Türkiye is clearly there. We can see it every day. And I think that is important," Rutte said.

He also praised Türkiye's industrial strength by saying: "Türkiye has an impressive defense in-the-field base. It is already working in close conjunction with industries and countries all over Europe and United States."

Rutte also welcomed US engagement in the Ukraine peace efforts.

"We reiterated our full support to President (Donald) Trump's urgent efforts to bring the war to a just and lasting end as soon as possible. This is a priority that we all share," he said.

"I'm really thankful for the fact that the United States is laser-focused."

Alliance on 'right path'

Rutte emphasized that the alliance is on the right path; however, he reiterated that spending 2% of each member's GDP is "not nearly enough."

"Our main focus was on boosting defense spending. It is needed to meet the capability targets that allies will soon agree and to ensure that the alliance is ready to face any threats and challenges," he said, explaining the pivot of the meeting.

"It will also help to ensure fair burden sharing among allies, and we are on the right track."

The members discussed what more the alliance will need for the future, he said and added: "We know we will need greater investment in our core military requirements, as well as additional broader defense-related investments, including infrastructure and including resilience."

Rutte said he is confident that NATO allies will agree on an ambitious new target at the upcoming summit in The Hague late June. He noted that such a target might be on the core defense spending, as well as on defense-related investments.