Rutte’s Appointment as NATO Secretary Will Bring Nothing New: Russia
NATO Secretary Mark Rutte, X/ @ifinancialnews
October 1, 2024 Hour: 6:17 am
The Netherlands has taken a position that completely excludes any contact with our country, Peskov said.
On Tuesday, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said that Russia does not expect “anything new” in NATO’s policy following the appointment of Dutchman Mark Rutte as the new Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance.
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“We know Mr. Rutte well… We don’t think anything new will happen in the Alliance’s policy,” he said during his daily press conference.
Peskov emphasized that President Vladimir Putin met with Rutte on more than one occasion and that, at the time, “there were hopes of establishing pragmatic relations.”
“The Netherlands has taken a rather uncompromising stance, a position that completely excludes any contact with our country. Our expectation is that the Atlantic Alliance will continue in the same direction it has been working,” the Kremlin spokesperson said.
Rutte, who succeeded Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday during a meeting of the North Atlantic Council, stressed that “there can be no lasting security in Europe without a strong and independent Ukraine.”
He also stated that the Alliance must fulfill its commitment to Ukraine joining the bloc, which he considered “irreversible.”
Putin has warned the West that if it authorizes Ukraine to use long-range weapons against targets on Russian territory, it would mean that NATO is “at war with Russia.”
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE
