new york, Aug 19
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte hailed US President Donald Trump as a “pragmatic peacemaker,” crediting him with breaking the deadlock and initiating fresh dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Let me first say that this was a very successful day, and I agree with you that President Trump is a pragmatic peacemaker, as you said, and what he did this year, breaking the deadlock, starting the conversation with Putin,” Rutte told reporters.
The remark came after a high-level meeting at the White House on August 18, 2025, which brought together President Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and several key European leaders to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war and potential paths toward peace.
He added that while Ukraine’s NATO membership was not on the table, discussions were underway on offering Kyiv “Article 5–style” security guarantees.
Rutte also confirmed that the issue of security guarantees was part of Monday’s White House discussions, but stressed that there was no talk of NATO troops on the ground.
Trump called Monday’s talks “very good” and said he had spoken with Putin to start planning a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents, ahead of a possible trilateral summit that would also involve him.
Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed during his summit with Trump that Washington and its European partners could extend Ukraine a security guarantee similar to NATO’s collective defense pledge, as part of a potential framework to end the war, a senior US official said Sunday.
Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, who attended the talks at a military base in Alaska on Friday, described the outcome as “game-changing,” noting it was the first time Moscow had signaled openness to such an idea.
“We secured a concession that the U.S. could provide Article 5-style protection — which is a key reason Ukraine has pushed for NATO membership,” Witkoff told CNN’s State of the Union.
