(13 Feb 2025)
RESTRICTIONS SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Brussels, Belgium – 13 February 2025
1. Wide of NATO Secretar- General Mark Rutte arriving at press conference
2. Cutaway camera
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary-General
"Let me begin by expressing my shock and sadness at the news coming out of Munich, where many people have been injured in what appears to have been a deliberate attack. We stand in solidarity with our ally Germany, and our thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones."
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary-General
"We need to do more (in defence spending), much more, and we need to do it faster. It is clear from our discussions today that allies recognize it needs to invest much more. Several announced the last increases in spending in today’s meeting. And I expect many ministers to return home from today’s meeting with an even greater sense of urgency."
5. Cutaway
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary-General
"What we are very clearly united about is that, first of all, we have to make sure that when talks starts, Ukraine is in the best possible position. And obviously this is about Ukraine. So Ukraine will be involved in any way and whatsoever. And at the same time, we are also in total agreement that an outcome has to be durable, as Pete Hegseth the Secretary of Defence said yesterday we cannot have a Minsk 3 again. So whenever the outcome is there, we have to make sure that Putin will not try to grab another square mile or kilometre of Ukraine."
7. Cutaway
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary-General
"He (Russian President Vladimir Putin) is a strong negotiator. He is very unpredictable. But in the end, if we want to get to a peace deal, we need him there because he was the one starting this war of aggression against your country (Ukraine). So, we have to make sure that we navigate those talks in a way that the outcome is such that it is clear to the whole world that there is a strong deal."
9. Rutte walks away
STORYLINE:
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on Thursday that the Alliance remained united and that Ukraine would be involved in peace talks.
"What we are very clearly united about is that, first of all, we have to make sure that when talks starts, Ukraine is in the best possible position. And obviously this is about Ukraine. So Ukraine will be involved in any way and whatsoever," Rutte said in Brussels after a meeting of NATO defence ministers.
Earlier, several NATO allies stressed that Ukraine and Europe must not be cut out of any peace negotiations as U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth denied that the United States is betraying the war-ravaged country.
European governments are reeling after the Trump administration signalled that it is planning face-to-face talks with Russia on ending the Ukraine war without involving them, insisted that Kyiv should not join NATO, and said that it’s up to Europe to protect itself and Ukraine from whatever Russia might do next.
“There can be no negotiation about Ukraine without Ukraine. And Ukraine’s voice must be at the heart of any talks,” U.K. Defence Secretary John Healey told reporters at NATO headquarters, as the organization’s 32 defence ministers met for talks on Ukraine.
Hegseth denied that the U.S. has betrayed Ukraine by launching negotiations about its future without Kyiv’s full involvement. After talks with Putin and then Zelenskyy, Trump said on Wednesday he would “probably” meet in person with the Russian leader in the near term, possibly in Saudi Arabia.
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