The first official trip of Marc Rutte as NATO Secretary General, just two days after taking office Jens Stoltenbergis loaded with symbolism: he went to kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, with a vision increasingly distant from Europe, with the increasingly fragile support of the organization’s main partners. The former Prime Minister of the Netherlands met his friend Volodymyr Zelensky to convey a message of hope. “For me,” Rutte said yesterday, “it was important to come to Ukraine at the beginning of my mandate to make it very clear to you, to the Ukrainian people and to everyone who is listening, that NATO is with Ukraine “.
Zelensky could hear him say that “Ukraine is closer to NATO than ever”that “Ukraine will continue on this path until it becomes a member of our Alliance”. These are not light words for a Ukrainian. Many Russian propagandists, starting with Vladimir Putinargue that this invasion responds to the Western desire to accept Ukraine into the European Union and, above all, into NATO. The declaration of intent is therefore full of meaning. But there is a more important reason to emphasize Rutte’s promises.
Last week, Zelensky traveled to the United States to meet President Joe Biden and convince him of his “victory plan.”
The route planned envisaged, in the short term, receiving more weapons and more quickly to thwart the ferocious attacks against its population and its infrastructure. There is also authorization to strike, with long-range Western missiles, the positions inside Russia from which Putin’s troops attack Ukrainian cities, filling frustrated resistance. feels like fighting “with one hand tied behind your back” against a nuclear power. It is also a clear agenda that accelerates Ukraine’s entry into NATO, an idea that scares almost all its members, fearing direct war with Russia.
The truth is that, a few days before the meeting at the White House, Zelensky showed signs of pessimism.
“Russia understands that Ukraine is in difficulty, excluded from the European Union and NATO, with almost a third of its territory occupied,” he lamented in a long interview with the magazine. THE New Yorkers. “Russia could decide enough is enough and attack Poland anyway, perhaps in response to a provocation from Belarus. So two and a half years of support and investment from the United States, for which we are very grateful, can be multiplied by zero. He would have to invest from scratch in a war of a completely different caliber. American soldiers would fight there, which, I must admit, would greatly benefit Russia.”
Zelensky, however, left the United States without a firm commitment from his main ally on the broad outlines of his plan, and with the prospect that a Trump victory in the November elections would make the slope even steeper. The Republican candidate, whom he met in New York, placed Ukrainian friendship on the level of Russian friendship, and not only: Trump pressured Kyiv to negotiate favorable terms for the Kremlin. In this context, Zelensky therefore thanked Rutte for his visit, but asked more from the Western bloc.
“We see how in the Middle East it is possible to protect people’s lives through the unity of allies,” he said. “The joint shooting down of Iranian missiles is no different from the shooting down of Russian missiles, and the two regimes go hand in hand. » He asked, in summary, that even if measures are taken towards NATO, they have the means to guarantee its survival.
On the front, however, there was little news of enthusiasm. Zelensky frequently emphasizes the strategic advantage given to them by successful incursions into Russian territory, in the Kursk region. But the surrender of Vuhledar, reduced to ruins by the invaders after two years of Numantine defense, is seen in the eyes of certain analysts as a sign of the collapse of Ukrainian resistance, on the defensive in the Donbass.
The Eastern Ukrainian military command assured on Wednesday that it had ordered the withdrawal from this mining town. “to preserve military personnel and equipment. “Russian forces gained territory in August and September at a rate not seen since 2022”said Pasi Paroinen, an expert with the Black Bird Group. Washington Postfor a report with a strong title: Eastern Ukraine reels from Russia’s improved tactics and superior firepower. It is in this context that Rutte visited a Ukraine in the grip of adversity.
