The NATO Secretary General on Thursday said the U.S. and its European allies have agreed that Russia is a long-term threat, even as Washington has seemed to placate Moscow.
The Hill illustration, Madeline Monroe/iStock/AP
Speaking to reporters after talks with President Trump, NATO chief Mark Rutte said the United States and its European allies “all agree in NATO that Russia is the long-term threat to NATO territory — to the whole of the Euro-Atlantic territory.”
He also said the United States remained committed to NATO, despite focusing on conflicts in the Middle East and adversaries in the Asia-Pacific region.
The comments come as Trump officials have suggested Ukraine should expect to cede some land to Russia in exchange for peace, as well as agreeing not to join NATO. Critics of the president’s approach say he’s making concessions even before peace talks begin — and making few demands on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Thursday, Trump said Russia would be making a concession toward peace if it agrees not to take over Ukraine, as the U.S. president has struggled to negotiate even a limited ceasefire deal between Moscow and Kyiv.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office during a meeting with Norway’s prime minister, Trump was asked what concessions Russia has “offered up thus far to get to the point where you’re closer to peace.”
“Stopping the war, stopping from taking the whole country, pretty big concession,” Trump responded.
Ukraine’s military succeeded in stopping Russian forces from taking over the capital Kyiv in the first, fraught days of Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. The Ukrainian military later oversaw a Russian retreat from suburbs around Kyiv and other areas in the north of the country, and it launched two major counteroffensives to retake some territory in the east and south of the country, but the front lines have been generally frozen for the past two years.
Trump has said he wants to quickly get to a deal between Russia and Ukraine, and both Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have suggested the U.S. will give up on talks if that doesn’t happen soon.
It’s unclear whether the U.S. would stop providing military support or intelligence sharing to Ukraine, critical in its defense against Russia.
Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & National Security newsletter, I’m Ellen Mitchell — your guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond.
The Defense Department will resume providing gender-affirming care for service members, a blow to the Trump administration’s effort to eliminate transgender individuals from the U.S. military. A Pentagon memo dated Monday and revealed Thursday states the department will restore surgical procedures and cross-sex hormone therapy to individuals, including dependents of troops, as first reported by Politico. “Service members …
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly directed a desktop computer in his Pentagon office be installed with the messaging app Signal, adding another layer to the controversy around his use of the encrypted messaging app, multiple outlets reported Thursday. Hegseth earlier this year effectively “cloned” the Signal app on his personal cellphone to his computer as a way to get around blocks on the messaging app in classified …
Former national security adviser John Bolton on Wednesday dismissed President Trump’s claim he has “no favorites” in the ongoing peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. “Well, of course he’s got favorites, and his favorite is not Russia, his favorite is [Russian President] Vladimir Putin, whom he thinks is his friend,” Bolton said late Wednesday during an appearance on CNN’s “The Source.” Bolton, a frequent Trump critic, …
Fifty percent of Americans in a new poll say President Trump should bring the wrongly deported Salvadoran immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to the U.S. The Economist/YouGov poll released Thursday found that 50 percent of respondents, including 53 percent of the registered voters surveyed, said Abrego Garcia, the 29-year-old man who had been living in Maryland until his deportation last month, should be returned to the U.S., …
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the Pentagon today. Rutte also later met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz.
President Trump met today with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and later with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House.
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George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs will hold a conference on “Understanding Wartime Ukraine” at 8 a.m.
The Center for Strategic and International Studieswill issue a report on “The Future of Arms Control and Euro-Atlantic Strategic Stability” at 9 a.m.
The Peterson Institute for International Economicswill have a virtual discussion on “Europe’s Future in 3D: Fiscal Trade and Defense Challenges” at 9 a.m.
The Center for Strategic and International Studieswill also host a talk on “Global Counterspace Trends” with former Assistant Secretary of State for arms control, deterrence and stability Mallory Stewart, at 2 p.m.
What We’re Reading
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The US has quietly gotten into another war in the Middle East (Vox)
Navy suspends search for missing Nimitz sailor (Military Times)
China has left President Trump twisting in the wind on tariffs, declaring it is not engaged in any negotiation with the U.S. as the tariffs take a … Read more
President Trump said Thursday that Russia would be making a concession toward peace if it agrees not to take over Ukraine, as the U.S. president has … Read more
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