Doorstep statement

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(As delivered)

Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary General

It's great to be here. Thank you so much for hosting. And we have a lot on our plate today to discuss. Of course, how to make sure that we keep Ukraine as strong as possible, able to defend itself, and trying to do everything we can to bring Ukraine to a lasting and durable peace against this unprovoked Russian onslaught, which is still continuing. But also discussing how can we make sure that we can defend NATO territory, not only now, but also in five and ten years, making sure that we have the money, but also the defence industrial production. And of course, here Italy is an important Ally. Italy is active all over NATO territory, for example, leading the Forward Land Forces in Bulgaria, but also active in so many other missions of NATO. And obviously, Italy has a very proud defence industrial base, Leonardo, but also so many other big and smaller defence industrial companies. And we need them all, including the ones in France and Germany and all over NATO, also in the US, to produce even more. So, a lot to discuss today. Thank you.

Question

Mr. Secretary General, will President Zelenskyy be coming to The Hague?

Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary General

We will publish the programme as soon as possible, then you will see everything.

Question

Mr. General Secretary, you haven't said that Russia's demands are unacceptable to end the war. Are there any demands that you would consider acceptable?

Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary General

Well, I'm not going to negotiate here. Obviously, it's really crucial what President Trump did, he broke the deadlock by starting direct talks with President Putin. I commend him for that, because I think that is important. And now this is a step-by-step approach, and I think the Russians sending this historian now twice to these talks in Istanbul, trying to start with history of a thousand years ago, and then explaining more or less that Ukraine is at fault here, I think that's not helpful, but at least step by step, we try to make progress. Thank you.