NATO chief Mark Rutte said on Thursday, September 4th, that Russia has no veto over Western troop deployments to Ukraine under a future peace deal.
“Why are we interested in what Russia thinks about troops in Ukraine? It’s a sovereign country. It’s not for them to decide,” Rutte said.
“If Ukraine wants to have security guarantee forces in Ukraine to support a peace deal, it’s up to them. Nobody else can decide about it,” Rutte said on a visit to Prague.
“I think we really have to stop making Putin too powerful,” he added, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russia says it firmly opposes any deployment of Western troops in Ukraine under a possible peace deal.