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Rutte will use meetings with Trump's close aides on Thursday to argue that an unfair peace solution that appeases Russian President Vladimir Putin would increase Moscow's threat to Europe.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte will urge President Donald Trump's administration not to force Ukraine to accept a peace deal against its will, as the White House increases pressure on Kiev to accept a de facto change to its borders.
Rutte will use meetings with Trump's close aides on Thursday to argue that an unfair peace settlement that appeases Russian President Vladimir Putin would increase Moscow's threat to Europe, three officials briefed on the preparations said.
The trip comes as Trump's push for a quick peace deal in Ukraine has threatened to drive a wedge between the US and Kiev's European allies.
Rutte's long-planned visit to Washington, focused largely on preparations for the NATO leaders' summit in June, comes a day after Trump warned Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky for refusing to make concessions and agree to a proposal for the US to recognize Russia's occupation of Crimea.
Rutte will use meetings with Trump's defense secretary Pete Hegseth, secretary of state Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz to emphasize that European security will also be at risk if a pro-Putin solution is forced on Kiev.
"The main message is to make the Americans understand what is at stake ," said a NATO diplomat. Rutte will also discuss how best to coordinate the shift of more of the burden of NATO's defense of Europe from the US to European militaries.
Other Western leaders are also stepping up efforts to influence Trump's hard-line stance. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will "seize" every chance to speak with Trump at Pope Francis' funeral on Saturday, her spokesman said Thursday.
European countries fear that Trump's insistence on recognizing Russia's control of Crimea will put them at odds with the White House as it moves closer to Moscow.
Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, told reporters on Thursday that Trump's stance on the peninsula, which Russia invaded and forcibly annexed from Ukraine in 2014, "fully corresponds to the Russian position."
Russia has offered to give up some of Putin's remaining claims to Ukrainian territory not under its control, but has shown no inclination to agree to any peace deal unless its core demands are met.
" President Putin supports achieving peace while guaranteeing the interests of our country. This is a mandatory condition ," Peskov said, according to state news agency Tass.
Peskov also ruled out accepting a European peacekeeping presence in Ukraine, which is part of the plan the US presented to Ukraine and its allies in Paris last week.
Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy, is expected to meet with Putin in Moscow this week for the fourth time this year.
Trump has become increasingly frustrated with Zelensky as Ukraine resists agreeing to Putin's demands, which would essentially force it to cease to be a functioning independent state.
" He can have peace, or he can fight for three more years before he loses the whole country," Trump said of Zelensky in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday. " We are very close to a deal, but the man who 'has no cards to play' now must finally get it done," he added, describing the situation in Ukraine as dire.
Later on Wednesday, Trump again showed his frustration with Zelensky, telling reporters in the Oval Office that he " thought he might be easier to deal with" than Russian President Vladimir Putin, but "so far, it's been harder . "
As Trump spoke, Russian airstrikes targeted Kiev with ballistic missiles and drones that killed at least nine people and injured more than 80 others.
The deadliest and largest bombing of the Ukrainian capital in recent months shows that Russia, not Ukraine, is the obstacle to peace, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said Thursday morning.
" Moscow, not Kiev, is the place where pressure should be exerted ," Sybiha said in a post on X.
Zelensky said he would cut short a trip to South Africa and return to Kiev immediately after the overnight bombings.
He said Russia had fired about 70 missiles, including ballistic ones, and about 150 attack drones at his country. “Unfortunately, there is significant damage ,” he said./ Adapted from “The Pamphlet” by “Financial Times”
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