NATO chief Mark Rutte has claimed that the Alliance has never promised Kyiv that it would become its member state as part of the potential peace deal with Russia.
Speaking at EU debates in Warsaw, he avoided any commitment to Ukraine's NATO membership while defending POTUS Donald Trump's public decision to take off Kyiv's membership in the Alliance indefinitely.
"I always also point out that we never said that Ukraine would become a member of the alliance as part of a peace deal, and what the Americans have said is that they have taken the view that as part of a peace deal. Ukraine should not become a member of NATO being subject to a peace deal, but that's of course separate from what will happen in the future," he said.
Rutte did not clarify what "will happen in the future" refers to in concrete terms.
At the same time, Rutte says that the cooperation between Kyiv and Alliance is intense.
"It is very intense, and there are days that I'm twice on the phone with Zelenskyy, and many weeks go by where at least we speak once or twice, so it is a very intensive cooperation," he said.
Ukraine officially applied for NATO membership in September 2022. Since then, the Alliance has taken virtually no steps toward issuing a concrete commitment to Kyiv, with the US, Germany, and other member states opposing Ukraine's membership.
