NATO Chief Warns Trump: Unfair Ukraine Peace Deal Could Empower China, North Korea and Iran

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has cautioned US President-elect Donald Trump about compelling Ukraine to accept an unfavorable peace deal dictated by Russia. Such an agreement, Rutte warned, could expose the US to "dire threats" from China, Iran, and North Korea.

Rutte made the statement in an interview with the Financial Times.

“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, because long-term that will be a dire security threat not only to Europe but also to the US,” Rutte said.

NATO Chief revealed that he conveyed this message to Trump in an effort to encourage him to maintain US engagement with Western allies and uphold American support for Ukraine.

“Look at the missile technology which is now being sent from Russia into North Korea, which is posing a dire threat not only to South Korea, Japan, but also to the US mainland,” Rutte said he told Trump at a meeting in Florida on November 22.

Donald Trump's press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, announced on November 11 that Trump plans to initiate negotiations between Ukraine and Russia on his first day in the White House. During his presidential campaign, Trump pledged to end the war in Ukraine within "24 hours."

To facilitate this, he has appointed former General Keith Kellogg as his special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. Kellogg has advocated implementing a ceasefire and compelling both Kyiv and Moscow to negotiate.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has formally dismissed any security guarantees that fall short of full NATO membership, as stated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 30th anniversary of the Budapest Memorandum's signing.