NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte delivered a highly ingratiating performance at a press conference with President Donald Trump at the White House last Thursday, remaining silent as President Trump once again threatened to annex Greenland. Secretary-General Mark Rutte only that said he won’t be involving NATO in the matter.
However, NATO’s Secretary General said that it is important that the United States takes up NATO’s leadership in its mission to protect the Antarctic. It is unclear whether Mark Rutte has received approval from other NATO members to make such statement. Under the Antarctic Treaty signed in Washington by 12 countries in 1959, no one holds ownership of the Antarctic and the continent is declared as an area of peace and scientific cooperation.
Following his meeting with President Trump, Secretary General Mark Rutte also confirmed that Ukraine won’t be joining NATO. In October of last year, after he was elected Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte gave a press conference following a NATO summit in Washington and said that Ukraine’s membership process in NATO was “irreversible” and it was only a question of timeline. Apparently, this position was quickly reversed by President Trump. The US has adopted a foreign policy which is favouring Russia in material and diplomatic terms.
The US Mission to NATO released a statement about the meeting saying that the Secretary General and the US President “discussed NATO’s strengthened defense, the ongoing situation in Ukraine, and the importance of increased defense spending. They share the same goal: to ensure a secure and prosperous future for all.”
Newsroom
Leave a Reply