Uncertain future

NATO chief Rutte lobbies Trump for Kiev

Trump and Rutte will speak more often in future.(Bild: AFP/Saul LOEB, Wojtek RADWANSKI)

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has met with US President-elect Donald Trump in the USA. The talks on Friday in Palm Beach, Florida, were about "global security problems".

Rutte is firmly committed to continuing to support Ukraine in its defense against the Russian war of aggression, NATO spokeswoman Farah Dakhlallah said in a brief statement in Brussels on Saturday.

Trump, who takes office on January 20, is opposed to the billions in aid for Kiev. According to the Republican, he wants to end the war in Ukraine quickly, which could involve territorial concessions to Russia at the expense of Ukraine.

Two days after Trump's victory in the US presidential election on November 5, Rutte said that he wanted to meet the Republican and talk to him about the threat posed by the increasingly close relations between Russia and North Korea. Rutte also emphasized that Russia pays North Korea for its support and supplies the internationally isolated country with technology, which in turn threatens the security of Europe and the USA.

Trump's new old threat backdrop
During Trump's first term as US President, US relations with NATO were tense. Trump accused NATO partners of investing too little in defense. In the spring, Trump reiterated during the election campaign that he would not come to the aid of defaulting NATO partners if they were attacked. On the contrary, he would even encourage the Russians to do "whatever they want" to them.

Rutte took office as NATO Secretary General in October. During his time as Dutch Prime Minister, he earned the nickname "Trump whisperer" because he managed to appease the then US President.