NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte travelled to London on Friday to take part in a meeting of the ‘Coalition of the Willing’ alongside UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron.
In remarks released by NATO, Rutte said the discussions focused on strengthening collective support for Ukraine and coordinating with recent diplomatic and economic measures. “We have just concluded a very productive meeting of the Coalition of the Willing. And I welcome the initiative Allies are showing to strengthen our support to Ukraine even further,” Rutte said.
He noted that the talks followed a visit to Washington, where he met with US President Donald Trump. Rutte described the latest US sanctions against Russia’s oil sector as measures that “will starve them of revenue and significantly increase the pressure on Putin to come to the negotiating table.”
Rutte characterised the situation on the battlefield as costly for Russia, stating that “Putin is gaining little new ground…and where there are marginal gains they are coming at a huge price.” He added that “Ukraine continues defending itself bravely and our support to them is working.”
According to the statement, Rutte said NATO Allies and partners were aligned in increasing both military and economic pressure. “The EU’s 19th sanction package against Russia is another good step in this direction,” he said, citing ongoing efforts across Europe and North America to coordinate policy.
“On both sides of the Atlantic, we want this war to end,” Rutte concluded. “The good discussions this week in Washington, yesterday in the European Council, and now in London indicate we’re moving in the right direction.”
Trump is not on my Christmas list; however, one has to praise his actions in getting NATO members to step up to the plate on defence…..well, at least in terms of intent.
Agree totally. He has done more to wake up the freeloaders in Europe than any other Potus in recent times.
Hitler did a similar thing !
The coalition of the willing to talk but do nothing.
With Starmer and Macron on the back foot in the UK and France not only are they unable to do any thing, after years of under investment in their respective armed forces they are incapable of helping the Ukraine push Putin’s hoards out. Trump has 2 weeks to implement his sanctions on Russia that is why Putin has sent over his representative to the White House so that Trump changes his mind again.
Biden was Vice president when Putin annexed the Crimea and did nothing to stop Putin, he was President when Putin launched his full scale assault on Ukraine and did nothing, both Trump and Biden are equally guilty of doing nothing as are the EU and the UK.
I do think that Ukraine will win this war but it is going to take years and a lot more lives but then after it is over the Ukraine is going to look on the “coalition of the willing” and the US as spineless idiots and it will be the Ukraine who will be calling the shots in Europe.
I’m sure there are concerns about the constant call on defence spending over the decades, based on the premise that an all-out war with Russia was an ever-decreasing threat. Now, to everyone’s horror, the Bear has risen and, though blunted, intends to pull at our wits for as long as it takes. The critical question, how to convince the voting public of the need for guns over welfare.
This “Risen Bear” is nearly Late Teens now, way past the “Terrible Two’s” stage.
The 1st order of any government is to keep the country safe from external and internal people who would see the UK end its days, so the spending on defence should be be set in stone as should spending on internal security. The problem is over the last 30 odd years of both the labour and conservative governments they have allowed the the UKs armed forces to free fall into a poor excuse of a shadow of its former self and at the same time allowed foriegn influenced agencies into our government institutions along with the civilianisation of or armed forces to such an extent that a good proportion of the defence budget ends up in private accounts over seas. We are now struggling to help our selves let alone helping the Ukraine.
The voting public are already more on board than the Prime Minister.
Steven,
‘With Starmer and Macron on the back foot in the UK and France not only are they unable to do anything, after years of under investment in their respective armed forces they are incapable of helping the Ukraine push Putin’s hoards out’. You must mean by deployment of ground troops?
The UK and France are unable to help the Ukraine eject Russian invaders in that way, not solely because they have under-invested in their armed forces but because they have no mandate from NATO or the UN or from any multi-national coalition or from domestic political manifestos, to put boots on the ground.
‘…. both Trump and Biden are equally guilty of doing nothing as are the EU and the UK’. Doing nothing? The UK started training the Ukrainian Army from December 2014 in-country (Op ORBITAL), as a direct consequence of the Russian seizure of Crimea; this training continues to this day (Op INTERFLEX) and is conducted in the UK. The UK gifted (not sold for a profit) thousands of NLAWs to Ukraine in the weeks and months before the Feb 2022 invasion. We have supplied Ukraine with £billions of military equipment and munitions. We were the first country to offer main battle tanks. We supplied Ukraine with all of our remaining AS-90 SPGs, such that the British Army now has none left in service. We have supplied everything from ambulances and helmets to heavy and sophisticated weapons (MLRS, CR2, AS-90, CVR(T), Storm Shadow). Much, if not most has been gifted, rather than being sold to make a fat profit. To kickstart sale or gifting of F-16s by ENATO nations we led an initiative to set up and fund F-16 training (even though we have none in our own inventory). Many British companies and organisations have gifted ex-military vehicles and civilian ambulances and humanitarian supplies.
Europe, including the UK, has contributed far more than the USA to Ukraine in the last year, if not before.
The Coalition of the Willing is of course engaging in planning talks, as a prelude to offering troops on the ground following a ceasefire. Why do you criticise such planning (ie talks)? Of course they cannot deploy troops yet…there is no ceasefire.