New NATO chief in kyiv to assure Ukraine of support

The new NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has arrived à kyiv Thursday, two days à just after taking office, to once again assure Ukraine of Western support, while its forces are in difficulty on the front.

The former Dutch Prime Minister met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky there.

Mr Rutte has been one of Ukraine's most active supporters in Europe since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, and has been labelled “Russophobic” by Moscow.

He notably spearheaded efforts to equip kyiv with F-16 fighter jets, a decision described as “historic” by Mr. Zelensky during a trip to the Netherlands.

It was also under Mark Rutte that the Netherlands signed an agreement for two billion euros in military assistance to Ukraine over 10 years.

Starting his first day at the head of NATO on Tuesday, the Dutchman made support for Ukraine one of the three priorities of his mandate.

Russian President Vladimir Putin “must realise” that NATO will not “give in” its support for kyiv, Mark Rutte stressed at his first press conference in Brussels.

This firm statement of support contrasts with the growing calls in the West for negotiations with Russia to begin.

Ukrainian rescue workers inspect the damage in a building damaged after a Russian missile strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on October 3, 2024 © AFP – SERGEY BOBOK

The question of the scale and sustainability of Western aid is all the more pressing as Ukraine is in its third year of war, particularly given the cost of this support and the risk of escalation of the conflict.

And the American position, kyiv's main donor and NATO's driving force, risks changing radically if Donald Trump returns to the White House after the November presidential election.

– NATO membership –

“It is up to the Ukrainian government to decide when the time has come to discuss peace,” Mr Rutte recalled when he took office, calling for “concentration on the war effort”. “The more we help Ukraine, the sooner” the war “will end,” he insisted.

The Ukrainian president welcomed his arrival at the head of NATO, reminding him of his country's objective: to join the Atlantic Alliance as a full member, which Moscow considers a threat.

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kyiv residents take shelter in a subway corridor during an air raid alert, October 1, 2024 © AFP – Anatolii STEPANOV

“Ukraine's place is in NATO,” Mr. Rutte assured on Tuesday, who will nevertheless have to arbitrate between Ukraine's ambition and the strong reluctance of some of the 32 member countries of the organization, including the United States and Germany.

M. Rutte has already visited Ukraine several times as head of the Dutch government during the war, visiting not only kyiv but also Odessa (south), a key Black Sea port, and Kharkiv (northeast), the country's second city located near the Russian border and subjected to almost daily air attacks.

A nighttime strike in Moscow left 11 people injured, including a child, in the latter city, according to a new report announced Thursday by emergency services.

Mark Rutte's trip comes at a very difficult time for Ukraine, whose forces are short of recruits and weapons due to a sluggish mobilization and more scattered Western deliveries.

– Setbacks on the front –

Ukraine: the positions of the military forces © AFP – Valentin RAKOVSKY, Sophie RAMIS, Cléa PECULIER

Result: the Ukrainian army is losing ground in the East.

The latest setback was when it announced on Wednesday that it was withdrawing from Vougledar, a city of military and symbolic importance, located at the junction between the Eastern and Southern fronts and the subject of a fierce battle for more than two years.

The conquest of this city put an end to the stability of this sector and also raised the question of the solidity of the Ukrainian defenses located beyond.

Its fall added to the difficulties of the Ukrainians in other sectors, with Russian troops approaching Pokrovsk, a key city for the logistics of kyiv's forces.

For its part, Ukraine launched a surprise attack in August on the Russian region of Kursk, advancing over some 1,000 km2, the first occupation of Russian soil by an enemy army since the Second World War.

kyiv believes that this offensive has prevented major Russian attacks in the north of the country, the Russian army having redirected part of its efforts towards Kursk, but it does not seem to have substantially relieved the Ukrainian forces in the east.

On the Russian side, four civilians were killed and 24 injured Thursday in Ukrainian strikes on the Belgorod region, neighboring that of Kursk and which regularly suffers bombardments, according to local authorities.

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