NATO: The meeting between the US and Russia is a test to examine whether Putin sincerely seeks peace

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that the meeting between the leaders of the United States and Russia held this week is a key test to examine whether Russian President Vladimir Putin sincerely seeks peace.

The New York Times reported that US President Trump and Putin will hold talks in Alaska on Friday (August 15). This will be the first face-to-face meeting between Trump and Putin since Trump returned to the White House in January.

Rutte said in an interview with ABC on Sunday (the 10th) that Trump is clearly putting pressure on Putin. He said, "This meeting is crucial because it will test Putin to see just how determined he is to end this terrifying war."

Rutte said, "When it comes to comprehensive negotiations, we hope that the talks on Friday will be an important step in this process..." This concerns territorial issues and, of course, will also involve security guarantees. But equally important is to recognize that Ukraine has the right to determine its own future. Ukraine must be a sovereign state that independently decides its geopolitical future - there is certainly no limit to the size of the Ukrainian military. And for NATO, our presence on the eastern wing should not be restricted either."

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Merz told ARD in an interview that he was prepared to call Trump on Sunday to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war.

Mertz said that any negotiations on resolving the Russia-Ukraine war issue, including possible territorial concessions, "across Europe and Ukraine" are unacceptable.

On the other hand, US Ambassador to NATO Whitaker told CNN that he believes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky still has a chance to attend the talks in Alaska.

Whitaker said, "The final decision is clearly in President Trump's hands." He agreed to meet with President Putin in Alaska on Friday. If he thought inviting Zelensky to attend was the best option, he would do so.

He said there was still time to make a decision and pointed out that no decision had been made at present.

In an interview broadcast by Fox News on Sunday, US Vice President Vance said that the United States is making efforts to arrange a trilateral meeting among the US, Russia and Ukraine that includes Zelensky. However, he believes that it is not a good idea for Putin and Zelensky to meet before the bilateral talks between the leaders of the US and Russia. He pointed out that one of the most important obstacles was that Putin had said he would never sit down to talk with Zelensky.