NATO chief rejects U.S. proposal to acknowledge Crimea annexation

          
• Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary General, stated that recognising the occupation of Crimea is not equivalent to its legal recognition as part of Russia.
• Rutte referenced the example of the Baltic countries, which were controlled by the USSR but were never legally recognised as part of it by the U.S. and the world.
• The NATO Secretary General noted that NATO countries must increase their defence spending to above 3 per cent of GDP to counter the threats from Russia.

In a Friday interview with Fox News at 8:00 GMT, Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary General, addressed the U.S. proposal to recognise Russia's annexation of Crimea.

Rutte emphasised that there is a significant difference between acknowledging that part of a country is occupied and legally declaring it belongs to another country. He cited the example of the Baltic countries, which were controlled by the USSR but were never legally recognised as part of it by the U.S. and the world.

Rutte noted that NATO countries must increase their defence spending to above 3 per cent of GDP to address the threats from Russia. He emphasised that this is necessary not only due to pressure from the U.S.

He explained that there is a persistent threat from the Russians, who are rapidly undergoing rearmament.

Rutte also expressed confidence that achieving this goal is possible.

The NATO chief praised President Trump's peace initiative, which he believes broke the deadlock and made the end of the war possible. However, he stressed that any peace agreement must be durable and guarantee that Putin would never again attempt to seize even a single square mile of Ukrainian territory, let alone challenge NATO.