Meetings in two days await for Zelenskyj.
This is very good opportunities to talk about security guarantees for Ukraine, for today and for tomorrow. Naturally, it's about air defense. It's very important for us, he says at a brief press conference before an initial dinner meeting with Rutte.
Concretely, 19 new air defense systems are on the wish list.
Rutte simultaneously repeats what so many other leaders say for the time being.
Very high up on the agenda is to ensure that the president and his team, Ukraine, are in the best possible position to one day – when they decide to do so – be able to initiate peace talks, says the Secretary-General.
Lately, there has been talk of a potential future peacekeeping force in Ukraine. Rutte, however, wants to avoid such discussions in public, so as not to facilitate for Russia.
For they sit there in their armchairs and listen to our discussions, smoking a fine cigar while watching everything on TV. I think it's wise to put a little lid on it, says Rutte after a meeting with Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda.
Wiktor Nummelin/TT
Facts: Zelenskyj in Brussels
TTTT
NATO's Secretary-General Mark Rutte had dinner on Wednesday evening with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyj, who had previously also spoken with France's President Emmanuel Macron.
Later, the leaders were expected to be joined by, among others, EU Council President António Costa, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Poland's President Andrzej Duda, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the UK's Foreign Minister David Lammy, and Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen – the latter as a representative of the Nordic and Baltic countries.
On Thursday, Zelenskyj will participate in parts of the EU summit in Brussels.
