New NATO chief visits Ukraine
New NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte visited Ukraine on Thursday in his first official trip since taking office and pledging the alliance’s continued support for Kyiv in its war with Russia.
Ukraine President Zelenskyy said he discussed with Rutte elements of Ukraine’s so-called victory plan, ahead of a NATO meeting at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany next week. The two also discussed the battlefield situation and the specific needs of Ukrainian military units. Zelenskyy reiterated that Ukraine needed more armaments, including long-range weapons it had long requested.
He also appealed for Western countries to scrap restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied long-range weapons to strike deep inside Russia.
Rutte said recent steps taken by NATO ‘build a bridge to NATO membership’ for Ukraine, including 40 billion euros ($44 billion) of funding assistance, bilateral security agreements between allies, and the formation of a new NATO command to coordinate assistance and training.
Rutte arrived after a Russian glide bomb struck a five-story apartment block in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, injuring at least 12 people, including a 3-year-old girl, local officials said.
