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Press statement by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the meeting of the Coalition of the Willing

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

24 Oct. 2025

(As delivered)

Thank you and good afternoon,

And as Keir Starmer and Volodymyr Zelenskyy have said, we have just concluded a very productive meeting of the Coalition of the Willing. And I welcome the initative Allies are showing to strengthen our support to Ukraine even further.

Just two days ago I was in Washington, where I had a very good meeting with President Trump.
The sanctions that the US has placed against Russia's largest oil companies will starve them of revenue and significantly increase the pressure on Putin to come to the negotiating table. And they show once again that President Trump is absolutely committed to end this war and bring a lasting peace to Ukraine.

I am glad that I was able here today to join Allies and partners to discuss how we support these peace efforts and how we can increase the pressure on Russia to get there.

In Ukraine, Putin is gaining little new ground on the battlefield - and where there are marginal gains they are coming at a huge price. Hundreds of thousands of Russians are dying for Putin's deluded aggression. Ukraine continues defending itself bravely and our support to them is working.

The truth is that Putin is running out of money, troops and ideas. President Trump said it very well - they should stop where they are now. And now is the right time to increase the pressure on Russia. So we can finally get a fair and a just peace for Ukraine.

I therefore welcome the recent announcements by European Allies and Canada of additional military aid to Ukraine. The developments on the battlefield show that our support to Ukraine is working, and we need to keep it up.

We need to pair this support with sanctions and economic pressure, and the EU's 19th sanction package against Russia is another good step in this direction.

On both sides of the Atlantic, we want this war to end. And the good discussions this week in Washington, yesterday in the European Council, and now in London indicate we're moving in the right direction.

Thank you so much.