NATO’s Secretary-General Mark Rutte hailed newly inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump’s warning on Wednesday that Russia could expect more tariffs and sanctions if it did not end the war in Ukraine.
“I was very, very happy with the position of Trump to put more sanctions on Russia. We know that the Russian economy is doing terribly bad[ly], and the sanctions will help,” he told CNBC on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.”
He expressed hopes that Europe will now also “step up” with sanctions in a bid to “choke off the Russian economy” and lessen Moscow’s war coffers.
“Trump is right, Ukraine is closer to Europe, but Trump is also right that it is a geopolitical conflict so I’m sure the U.S. wants it to end with a good and strong deal,” Rutte added.
Trump has previously boasted that he could end the war in Ukraine “within 24 hours” of being elected, as well as threatening to cut military funding for Kyiv. Concerns have mounted in Europe that a financially and weapons-deprived Ukraine could be pushed into a bad peace deal involving territorial concessions to Russia.
Rutte said that the outcome of any peace deal had to be “sustainable,” noting that Russia’s allies, including China and North Korea, would be “high-fiving,” otherwise.
“We have to get to a position where Russia will never, ever, ever again try to catch one square kilometer of Ukraine, so it has to be a strong deal,” Rutte said.
February will mark the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion, and while war fatigue has grown among some allies, the war has shown no sign of ending soon with Russia looking to make gains, and Ukraine prevent further territorial losses, ahead of any possible peace talks.
When asked for his current assessment of the war between Ukraine and Russia, NATO chief Rutte said “at the moment, it is moving not in the right direction.”