The  NATO secretary general,  Mark Rutte, reacted cautiously on Thursday to U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of planned negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end Russia’s war on Ukraine.

“We will see how this progresses from now on,” Mr Rutte said on the sidelines of a NATO defence ministers’ meeting in Brussels.

“The crucial thing was for Ukraine to be closely involved in everything that is decided about Ukraine,” he added.

Mr Rutte stressed the need to ensure that Ukraine is in the “best possible position.”

“It is crucial that when a peace deal is struck, that that peace deal is enduring, that Putin knows that this is the end, that he can never again try to capture a piece of Ukraine,” said the former Dutch prime minister.

“That has to be part of those negotiations, and no doubt that is also on the mind of President Trump and the American team,” he added, noting that the allies would work in close coordination.”

Mr Rutte recalled the failure of the Minsk agreement struck after Russia’s 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.

“We thought that deal was there to stay. It didn’t. Putin simply continued trying to grab pieces of Ukraine,” he said. “We can never, ever have that again.”

On Wednesday, Mr Trump announced that he would meet Putin to seek a solution to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.

At the same time, his administration publicly presented for the first time how it envisages a deal to end the war, stating that Ukraine should give up its bid to join NATO.

(dpa/NAN)