NATO chief unveils postwar plan in address to Ukraine's Parliament

"It is not just about today and sustaining your (Ukraine's - ed.) ability to bring this war to an end. It is also about the future and ensuring that any peace lasts. So that your children and grandchildren can grow up in freedom and without fear that Russia will try again to subjugate this great nation," Rutte says.

He adds that in addition to strong armed forces, Ukraine needs powerful support from its allies.

"The United States, Europe, and Canada have affirmed their readiness to provide the assurance that Ukraine needs to be able to forge a peace with Russia. The members of the coalition of the willing made encouraging progress on these guarantees when they met last month in Paris. I was at that meeting and so was President Zelenskyy," NATO chief notes.

Rutte stresses that once a peace agreement is reached, the armed forces, aircraft in the air, and naval support of those allies who have agreed to help will immediately appear. Other NATO members will contribute in other ways.

"Getting to an agreement to end this terrible war will require difficult choices. Ukraine needs to know with absolute certainty that whatever sacrifices you have made, the lives you have lost, the devastation you have endured will not be at risk of repetition. You need to know that this peace will be lasting not because papers have been signed but because there is hard power to back it up. You rightly do not want another Budapest memorandum or a Minsk agreement," Rutte stresses.

Rutte's visits to Ukraine

On Tuesday, February 3, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte arrived in Kyiv on a visit. The head of the Alliance began his speech at the opening of the 15th session of the Verkhovna Rada.

Mark Rutte last visited Ukraine in April last year.

At that time, the NATO Secretary General visited Odesa together with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.