​​​​​​​ISTANBUL

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte expressed "total confidence" in US President Donald Trump's handling of the Russia-Ukraine war on Wednesday, defending Trump's outreach to his Russian counterpart ahead of their meeting.

"I have total confidence in President Trump, and he's the only one who can get this done," Rutte told reporters about Trump's shifting stance on Ukraine's territorial recovery and talks with Vladimir Putin.

Rutte said Trump's leadership is "crucial" and compared his approach to negotiations in the Gaza Strip, saying the US president must engage all parties, including Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, to reach a deal.

He characterized Trump's goal as ending bloodshed and achieving a lasting resolution to the war.

- Summit plans on hold

A White House official said Tuesday that plans for a second Trump-Putin summit were temporarily postponed following a "productive" call between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Trump announced Oct. 16, after speaking with Putin, that he planned to meet the Russian president in Hungary within two weeks.