Mark Rutte, the head of NATO, met with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and several other European leaders at his residence in Brussels on Wednesday evening to discuss the deteriorating situation in the war with Russia and how Europe can offer more support to Kyiv.
The meeting came at an uncertain moment for Ukraine as it faces U.S. President-elect Donald J. Trump’s push for an accelerated timetable for peace negotiations with Moscow. Mr. Zelensky is scheduled to address European Union leaders during a full summit meeting on Thursday.
Mr. Rutte has argued that any serious negotiations on a cease-fire or settlement would require convincing President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia that he has little further to gain in Ukraine. And that, Mr. Rutte has noted, requires stepped-up Western support for Kyiv.
“What we should focus on now is making sure that Ukraine gets to a position of strength,” Mr. Rutte said on Wednesday, suggesting it was premature to say whether European peacekeepers would be involved in any future deal. “If we now start to discuss amongst ourselves what a deal could look like, we make it so easy for the Russians.”
Mr. Rutte said his priority was improving Ukraine’s air defenses and delivering more weapons to Ukraine.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy and President Andrzej Duda of Poland were also expected to attend the Wednesday night meeting. They were all in town for a summit with leaders from the Western Balkans, as well as with David Lammy, the British foreign minister.
The European Council president, António Costa, and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, were also expected to be at Mr. Rutte’s residence. Earlier, Mr. Zelensky met with President Emmanuel Macron of France.
Given the uncertainty about U.S. policy next year under Mr. Trump’s leadership, Mr. Rutte will likely use the meeting to coordinate the response of European members of NATO. The Europeans want to convince Mr. Trump that a bad deal for Kyiv would make the American president look weak to China. They also want to show Mr. Trump that Europe is stepping up its support for Ukraine and will continue to do so.
There is also likely to be a discussion of what one European diplomat, speaking anonymously per diplomatic practice, called “scenario planning,” on what Europe might do to support Ukraine after any cease-fire, like setting up a peacekeeping force to prevent another Russian attack in the future.
The European Union’s chief diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said on Wednesday that the stronger Ukraine was on the battlefield, the stronger it would be around the negotiating table.
“I see there is the wish for some really short and fast solutions, but we are in this situation where Russia does not want peace, and that is a problem,” Ms. Kallas said.
The Wednesday discussions about Ukraine’s future may serve as a basis for a wider discussion at the summit with all E.U. leaders the following day.
According to a draft of what the summit’s conclusions might be — seen by The New York Times — leaders will call for the urgent stepping up of delivery of air defense systems, ammunition and missiles, as well as more training and equipment for Ukrainian forces. The leaders are also likely to call for “intensifying work to further support and develop Ukraine’s defense industry and to deepen its cooperation with the E.U. defense industry,” according to the draft.
Earlier on Wednesday, E.U. leaders and leaders of Western Balkan countries met to discuss enhancing cooperation. The six Western Balkans countries have been bidding to join the European Union, but the road to accession will be cumbersome and slow, in part because of the onerous criteria for joining. The last time the bloc added a new member was in 2013.
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