NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday in an unannounced visit.
The Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia) press service initially confirmed his arrival at Kyiv railway station in a Telegram post, calling the visit “extremely important” as a gesture of solidarity and support from the Alliance for Ukraine.
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The post, along with accompanying photos, was later deleted, although the images have already circulated on social media.
At the time of publication, traffic congestion was reported in central Kyiv, particularly around Maidan Nezalezhnosti, according to Kyiv Post’s correspondent.
The visit had not been announced in advance, and its full details remain unknown.
Rutte last visited Kyiv in early February, when he also addressed the Verkhovna Rada.
In early February, Rutte also made a surprise visit to Kyiv, arriving just hours after Russia launched one of the largest combined drone and missile attacks of 2026 at that time.
He also arrived this time following a massive strike involving 73 missiles and 656 drones, which killed 22 people across Ukraine, including two children, and left at least 130 injured.
During his February visit, Rutte and President Volodymyr Zelensky laid flowers at a central Kyiv memorial honoring Ukrainian soldiers killed since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
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He later addressed Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, where he called for long-term peace and credible security guarantees for Ukraine, stressing that lasting peace requires both strong Ukrainian Armed Forces and sustained international support.
Rutte said the United States, European countries, and Canada had already expressed readiness to provide such guarantees, and pointed to a “coalition of the willing” working on a framework for Ukraine’s future security architecture.
He added that NATO would be prepared to implement security mechanisms immediately after any peace agreement, including air, naval, and other forms of support, with participation varying among allies.
Rutte also acknowledged that ending the war would require “difficult and painful decisions,” while emphasizing that Ukraine must be assured its sacrifices have not been in vain.
Before that visited Ukraine in April 2025, when he met Zelensky in Odesa and visited a hospital treating wounded Ukrainian servicemen, praising both frontline resilience and medical personnel working under wartime conditions.
The story is developing and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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