NATO Secretary General praises Trump Administration for negotiations with Ukraine and Russia.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Mark Rutte praised the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump for its attempts to end the war between Ukraine and Russia. The Dutch politician also criticized Europefor complaining to the U.S. government about feeling rejected from negotiations to stop the war conflict.

During an interview on The Story, on the Fox News network, the secretary general explained that the leadership of Trump and his administration has been crucial in getting to a point where the war between Ukraine and Russia may be coming to an end. "I have great trust in the American team conducting those talks. Ukraine will be part of those talks, no doubt ," Rutte commented.

Similarly, the NATOexplained that Europe must take more action and assume a less passive stance if it wants to be part of the negotiations between the countries. Rutte also stated that he categorically rejected the numerous criticisms that have rained down on the administration by several NATO members, arguing that the U.S. president was doing the right thing by trying to negotiate an end to the war. "Europe wants to have a place at the table. Well, I told them, fight yourself a way to the table by coming up with concrete proposals. That is now happening. I absolutely reject that criticism of President Trump’s initiative. I think it is only right that he tries to end this war, and we need American leadership here," the secretary general explained.

Rutte supports increased defense spending

At another point in the interview, Rutte explained that while Trump succeeded during his first administration in getting NATO member countries to increase their defense spending to $700 billion dollars, this sum still isn't enough. "We have to do much, much more. But the good thing is now that we have a process in place by which we can exactly determine what the gaps are in terms of long range missiles, in terms of our armies, in terms of our logistics, in terms of our military mobility, in terms of our air defense, and it will require a lot … more money than we spent so far," he detailed.

Similarly, the secretary general said it was crucial for NATO to strengthen itself as soon as possible, not only because of its extraordinary dependence on the United States, but also because he knew that geopolitical rivals such as China are constantly watching them. "The U.S. is by far the most important ally within NATO, but the U.S. is absolutely right that it is only fair that on the European side of NATO, we ramp up spending because we need to do it for our own defense, but also because it is fair to get this balance with what the U.S. is spending on defense, but that doesn’t mean that U.S. is abandoning Europe," he said.