NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte met with Ukraine’s acting president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Odessa to coordinate a response to U.S. President Trump’s land-for-peace proposal. At their joint press conference, Rutte expressed solidarity with Ukraine and highlighted over €20 billion in pledged NATO support for 2025. “I am here today because I believe that the people of Ukraine deserve true peace, real security and security in their country, in their homes. My heart is with the people of Ukraine,” he said.
Zelenskyy declared Trump’s land-for-peace proposal, made via his special envoy Steve Witkoff, a “red line,” insisting Ukraine’s territorial integrity is non-negotiable and that only Ukrainians can decide the fate of their land. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry reiterated that Kiev will accept no ceasefire unless it retains all pre-2014 territory, faces no defense restrictions, and remains free to join any alliance. “Ukraine is a sovereign country, united within internationally recognized borders. This position of Ukraine is immutable and will never change. I can tell you: never,” insisted Foreign Ministry Spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi.
An official readout from the Office of the President of Ukraine confirmed that a “significant part” of the meeting focused on U.S.-Russia talks, suggesting the visit was meant to coordinate a pushback against Trump’s diplomatic efforts.
This public resistance to U.S. diplomacy raises the question: whatever happened to “nothing about the U.S. without the U.S.”?
