NATO Secretary General Rutte: If anyone in the Kremlin thinks we will stop, that will not happen

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte held a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy following the conclusion of the first day of sessions at the NATO Defense Ministers meeting held in Brussels, the capital of Belgium.

Stating that it is of great importance to continue providing military aid to Ukraine, Rutte noted that Ukraine was among the priority agenda items at the meeting held today between NATO defense ministers and partners from the Indo-Pacific region. Explaining that issues such as support for Ukraine, defense production, innovation, cybersecurity, combating disinformation, and new technologies including artificial intelligence were discussed at the meeting, Rutte thanked the partners in the Indo-Pacific region and the European Union for their support of Ukraine. Rutte said, "I look forward to the day when Ukraine will be here as a member of this alliance. Until then, we will continue to do everything in our power to ensure Ukraine prevails. This is vital for our collective security."

Emphasizing that NATO will not lose its consensus on supporting Ukraine, Rutte said, "We will not lose our unity on this, you can be sure of that. My message today is to Vladimir Putin. If he thinks that will happen, he is wrong. This was proven once again today. Look at what the Australians are doing, what the Germans are doing, and what the US is doing today, announcing a nearly half-billion-dollar missile defense system."

Rutte stated, "I have been in contact with all allies for the last three weeks. We will ensure that Ukraine has everything it needs to fight against Russia. We will continue to do so. If anyone in the Kremlin thinks we will stop due to differing opinions, that will not happen, and Ukraine will become a NATO member; there is no doubt about that."

ZELENSKYY BACKTRACKS ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT STATEMENT

Zelenskyy, for his part, clarified the claims that appeared in the German press today regarding Ukraine's desire to develop nuclear weapons. At the press conference he held with Rutte, Zelenskyy said, "We never said we were preparing to develop nuclear weapons. When the Budapest Memorandum was signed, it was written that Ukraine would give up its nuclear weapons and that Ukraine would be given security, territorial integrity, and sovereignty guarantees by countries including Russia, China, and the US. That is what I said."

According to reports in the German press, it was claimed that Zelenskyy told former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during their meeting in September that "Ukraine must be a NATO member, otherwise it will go down the path of developing nuclear capacity to protect itself." It was reported that Zelenskyy said to Trump during their meeting, "Either Ukraine will have nuclear weapons that will provide it with protection, or it will be part of some kind of alliance. Aside from NATO, there is no such alliance."

"THE FIRST STEP TOWARD A WORLD WAR"

During his meeting with EU leaders, Zelenskyy also announced that they had received intelligence that 10,000 soldiers from North Korea would join Russia to fight against them, warning that if this were to happen, the war would "turn into a world war." Stating, "We have information that approximately 10,000 North Korean soldiers are being prepared to be sent to fight against us," Zelenskyy described North Korea's involvement in the war as "the first step toward a world war."