Rutte: In Alaska, Trump will see if Putin is serious about peace

NATO secretary general Mark Rutte said that during a meeting with Vladimir Putin, president of the United States Donald Trump will try to make sure that the Russian dictator is serious about the peace process. The official told this to in an interview with the American TV channel CBS News.

"My absolute conviction on Friday is that this is President Trump making sure that Putin is serious, and if he is not, then it will stop there. If he is serious, then from Friday onwards, the process will continue. Ukraine getting involved, the Europeans being involved," the Secretary General said, reminding that The United States is already coordinating its position with partners.

According to Rutte, NATO is united, and Putin "will never get in between us."

The official also confirmed that the supply of American weapons, acquired by Europeans for Ukraine on the initiative of PURL, will continue after the Trump-Putin meeting and that he expects new support packages to be announced "in the coming days and weeks."

As for whether Russia still demands that Ukraine refuse to join NATO, the Alliance Secretary General said: "But let me assure you the following, that we are all on the same page; the Americans, the Europeans and Ukraine, that when it comes to the geo-strategic position of Ukraine in the future, when it comes to whatever is the size of the Ukrainian military when it comes to NATO's posture on the eastern flank in countries like Latvia and Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Poland, that Putin has absolutely no say on any of these issues."

Trump and Putin's meeting should take place on August 15 in Alaska.

• On August 10, a joint statement by European leaders was published, noting that the current contact line should be the starting point for peace talks.
• Vice president Vance said that the US takes into account the current front line in the search for peace. Earlier, Trump said that his country considers "the exchange of territories" between Ukraine and Russia "for the benefit of both sides".
• Zelenskyy stated that during the negotiations, Moscow is trying to "bargain" for better ground positions for further strikes. He later noted that Ukraine understands Russia's intention to try to deceive the United States during the negotiations and will not allow it.