NATO Secretary General unexpectedly arrives in Ukraine

As Rutte himself reported, he visited the city of Odesa together with Zelenskyy.

"Ukraine’s people have endured so much - not least Russia’s Palm Sunday attack on Sumy. NATO support is unwavering. We will continue to help Ukraine so it can defend today and deter future aggression, ensuring a just and lasting peace," Rutte wrote on Twitter (X).

At the same time, Zelenskyy shared a video in which he, together with NATO Secretary General, visits a hospital where Ukrainian defenders are recovering from injuries.

There, they spoke with the soldiers and recognized their efforts.

"I awarded the combat medics. They not only help our warriors every day in the hospital, but they also saved lives under shelling in Kherson, Kharkiv, and Mykolaiv regions," Zelenskyy wrote.

Rutte also praised Ukrainian doctors and their contribution to saving lives.

"You are spending your time, your days, weeks, and years on this. And we see it." Rutte highlighted that it was incredibly important and pointed out that this was where the difference lay between Ukraine and Russia — the difference between dictatorship and democracy.

Ukraine and NATO

Ukraine had planned to receive an official invitation to NATO at the Washington summit in July 2024, but this did not happen.

Now, US President Donald Trump has stated that Ukraine’s NATO membership is unlikely or impractical. Later, Trump even stated that Ukraine should forget about joining NATO.

"You can forget about it. That's probably the reason the whole thing started," Trump said.

At the same time, Zelenskyy stated that if Ukraine is not in NATO, then the Alliance should be present on Ukrainian territory. According to him, an alternative to Ukraine's NATO membership is the stationing of NATO troops on Ukrainian soil.