The US would face a “dire threat” from China, Iran and North Korea if Ukraine is forced into concessions to end its war with Russia, Nato’s secretary-general has warned Donald Trump.
Mark Rutte cautioned against the president-elect’s plans for a peace deal, which he said would lead to the West’s enemies “high fiving” and plotting their own attacks.
He told the Financial Times there must be a “good deal” for Ukraine when the time comes to negotiate with Russia, and he called for the US to continue military support in the meantime.
Mr Trump has promised to bring a swift end to the war in Ukraine, and his allies have suggested he may lean on Kyiv to offer territory to Russia in exchange for a ceasefire.
However, supporters of Ukraine including Sir Keir Starmer have argued that the West must continue to supply arms.
New aid package
On Monday night, Sir Keir acknowledged for the first time that the war would end in a negotiated settlement. His speech at the Lord Mayor’s banquet came hours after Joe Biden authorised a further package of military aid.
Mr Rutte, who met Mr Trump and his foreign policy team on Nov 23 to discuss a “range of global security issues facing the alliance,” said he had warned the president-elect about a sharp end to the war during their discussion.
“We cannot have a situation where we have Kim Jong-un and the Russian leader and Xi Jinping and Iran high-fiving because we came to a deal which is not good for Ukraine,” he told the FT.
“Long-term, that will be a dire security threat not only to Europe but also to the US.”
The alliance chief, who took office in October, added that there were deep military and economic ties between Russia, China, North Korea and Iran with money and weapons changing hands, fuelling the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
“The fact that Iran, North Korea, China and Russia are working so closely together…[means] these various parts of the world where conflict is…are more and more getting connected,” he said.
Mr Rutte’s intervention suggests Nato and other Western countries may try to convince Mr Trump to continue US support for Ukraine by arguing that it is in America’s interests to do so.
Several of Mr Trump’s top team have said they believe Ukraine is a European problem, and that the US’s focus should be on China and Iran.
Mr Rutte’s attempt to connect global issues may prove persuasive, despite opposition to high levels of military spending on Ukraine within the Republican Party.
Mr Trump has already called on Nato members to increase domestic military spending to 3 per cent of GDP, a 50 per cent boost from its current level.
