London [UK], October 25 : NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte met with various European leaders in London to discuss how a "fair and just" peace for Ukraine can be achieved and how pressure on Russia can put an end to the nearly 4-year-long war.
Rutte also welcomed the recent announcement of providing additional military aid to Ukraine, highlighting how developments on the battlefield show that support to the country is working and thanked the Ukrainian allies for their support.
"Glad to join Allies & partners to discuss how we can support a fair and just peace for Ukraine & how we can increase the pressure on Russia to get there. I welcome recent announcements of additional military aid. Developments on the battlefield show that our support to Ukraine is working - we need to keep it up," Rutte posted on X, highlighting his meeting for the 'Coalition of the Willing'.
The Coalition of the Willing meeting was co-hosted by UK Prime Minister of Keir Starmer, and French President Emmanuel Macron. After the meeting, the NATO Secy Gen joined Prime Minister Starmer, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen, and the Prime Minister of The Netherlands Dick Schoof in a press conference.
During the press conference the NATO Secretary General said that the recent sanctions on Russia's two of the biggest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, will "starve" the country of revenue and "significantly increase the pressure on Putin to come to the negotiating table."
"The sanctions that the US has placed against Russia's largest oil companies will starve them of revenue and significantly increase the pressure on Putin to come to the negotiating table. And they show once again that President Trump is absolutely committed to end this war and bring a lasting peace to Ukraine," Rutte said.
Highlighting how Russia has gained little new ground on the battlefield, Rutte condemned the loss of thousands of lives due to "Putin's deluded aggression" and that supporting Ukraine is working to keep the offensive at bay.
"The truth is that Putin is running out of money, troops and ideas. President Trump said it very well - they should stop where they are now. And now is the right time to increase the pressure on Russia. So we can finally get a fair and a just peace for Ukraine," the NATO Secy Gen said.
"I therefore welcome the recent announcements by European Allies and Canada of additional military aid to Ukraine. The developments on the battlefield show that our support to Ukraine is working, and we need to keep it up. We need to pair this support with sanctions and economic pressure, and the EU's 19th sanction package against Russia is another good step in this direction," he added.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday announced that the European Union has assured continued financial assistance to Ukraine not only for next year but also through 2027.
Taking to X, Zelenskyy wrote, "Today, a meeting of the European Council was held in Brussels - with good results. The European Union assured that financial assistance to Ukraine will be maintained not only next year, but also in 2027. This is an important unanimous decision."
Highlighting progress on security and energy cooperation, Zelenskyy stated, "There is also progress on strengthening air defense. While the details are not yet public, we have received positive signals, and our teams will work quickly with the respective countries."
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