NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said during a visit to Kyiv on Tuesday, Feb. 3, that Russia’s overnight attacks on Ukraine did not indicate Moscow was serious about pursuing peace, as the White House pushes for talks to halt the fighting.
“Direct talks are now underway, and this is important progress,” Rutte said in an address to the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s legislature. “But Russian attacks like those last night do not signal seriousness about peace.”
On Tuesday, Russia launched what Ukrainian officials described as “the most powerful” attack so far this year on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without heating ahead of a fresh round of talks in Abu Dhabi.
Rutte said he was urging NATO member states to “dig deep into their stockpiles” to provide Ukraine with additional air defense systems as it seeks to repel ongoing Russian strikes.
The NATO chief also said the alliance’s focus on supporting Ukraine had not been diverted despite tensions between Washington and its allies over the Trump administration’s demands related to Greenland.
Rutte added that European NATO members were prepared to provide strong security guarantees and deploy forces to Ukraine to ensure any future ceasefire would hold.
“The security guarantees are solid, and this is crucial,” he said. “Getting to an agreement to end this war will require difficult choices.”
“Ukraine needs to know with absolute certainty that whatever sacrifices have been made, the lives lost and the devastation endured will not be at risk of being repeated,” Rutte added.
Rutte made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Tuesday, arriving just hours after Russia launched one of the largest drone and missile attacks so far this year.
Rutte and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky laid flowers at a central Kyiv memorial honoring soldiers killed in the Russian invasion.
Later, Rutte addressed the Verkhovna Rada, where he acknowledged that the path to ending the war will require “difficult and painful decisions,” but stressed that Ukraine must be confident that the sacrifices made so far have not been in vain.