NATO's new Secretary General Mark Rutte warned on Oct. 8 that Ukraine may be facing its most challenging winter since the start of the full-scale invasion, as the country prepares for more Russian attacks against energy infrastructure.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct. 3 that the decision of the Ukrainian military to withdraw from the front-line town of Vuhledar was "absolutely correct" as it helped save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers.
Newly appointed NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte arrived in Kyiv on Oct. 3 for a surprise visit, NATO spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah said.
"We have to make sure that Ukraine prevails as a sovereign, independent, democratic nation," Mark Rutte said on Oct. 1.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will take over the position from current NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg when his ten-year term ends in October.
Romania was the last of the 32 NATO allies to support Rutte's candidacy, after Hungary and Slovakia endorsed Rutte on June 18.
Editor's note: This article has been updated in light of Mark Rutte becoming NATO secretary general on Oct. 1. "There was a joke I heard the other day," Estonia's Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told the audience of a Politico event in November 2023, as the mandate of NATO Secretary General
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg endorsed Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as his successor for the first time on June 18, describing him as a "very strong candidate."
Hungarian Prime Minister endorsed Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's bid to be the next Secretary General of NATO, after Rutte said he supported Budapest opting out of NATO initiatives to support Ukraine, Orban announced on June 18.
The Netherlands allocated an additional one billion euros ($1.1 billion) in military aid and 400 million euros ($425 million) for renovation to assist Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on April 12 after the call with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
The Dutch government has also set aside 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) for Ukraine for 2025.
A large amount of ammunition will be sent to Ukraine "in the near future" within the Czech-led initiative to provide Kyiv with hundreds of thousands of artillery shells, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on March 22.
Kharkiv is not yet safe enough for residents to return to the city, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at a press conference with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on March 1.
President Volodymyr Zelensky and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte signed a 10-year agreement on security cooperation between Ukraine and the Netherlands in Kharkiv, Zelensky announced on March 1.
France and the Netherlands back Czechia's plan to procure hundreds of thousands of ammunition rounds for Ukraine from outside the EU, French President Emmanuel Macron and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told journalists on Feb. 26.
The U.S. and the U.K. are endorsing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to become the next NATO Secretary General, according to media reports on Feb. 22, which cited officials in Washington D.C. and London.
The EU's collective economic power is by far superior to Russia, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told the Kyiv Independent on Feb. 17 in an interview at the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, adding that European nations must invest more in defense and support for Ukraine.
Mark Rutte warned of “serious consequences” if Moscow chooses to further invade Ukraine
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