Rutte: President Trump Is the Only One Able to Break Through the Deadlock on Ukraine

During his two-day visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte shared his insights on the region’s current stability and future prospects. While acknowledging ongoing tensions, Rutte expressed cautious optimism about the region, highlighting the renewed leadership in both the EU and NATO as a crucial factor in promoting regional cooperation. He emphasized the need for compromise in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, urging all parties to de-escalate tensions, particularly as Kosovo faces internal challenges and the complex role of KFOR forces. Rutte also addressed the broader geopolitical landscape, reaffirming NATO’s commitment to stability and underscoring the vital role of the U.S. in fostering a sustainable peace in Ukraine.

What is your key impression about Kosovo? And what was your key message primarily to Mr. Kurti?

Well, I must say, my overall impression is cautiously optimistic, in the sense that we see there are tensions in the region. Particularly, of course, what is happening in Bosnia and Herzegovina at the moment. There are continuing tensions between Kosovo and Serbia. But at the same time, I think there is a huge opportunity with the new leadership in the EU, the re-established leadership in the EU, and in NATO now. With a new Secretary General and new Deputy Secretary General, but also many people here in the region, including in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo, really wanting to bring this region to good neighborly relations and to really tap into the potential of the Western Balkans, instead of continuing with all the troubles we have had in the past.

Today, speaking of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, you mentioned that both sides need to make certain compromises. Do you have something particular in mind?

The problem is that I might have something on my mind, but it doesn’t work if I speak about it openly. But what I really want to stress is, first of all, when it comes to KFOR, as NATO is completely committed to KFOR, I see this as an anchor—not only in Kosovo, but in the entire region. But also that we try to be even-handed. So when I’m giving messages to the presidency, with the three-member presidency in Bosnia and Herzegovina, or today here in Pristina, or when I was on the phone last week with Aleksandar Vučić, the Serbian president, who will visit me this month in Brussels, I try to be even-handed. I know that my colleagues in the EU will try to be even-handed because we have only one interest, and that is to make sure that when tensions rise, we deal with them and that we can tap into the potential.

When you were speaking of the opportunities, do you see opportunities now within the new US administration, primarily for the region but also with what is going on in Ukraine?

I am optimistic about Trump’s presidency. What he did with Ukraine is really important. He broke the deadlock, and the U.S. is now in conversation with the Russians. As we speak, they are talking with the Ukrainians in Saudi Arabia, and we all want this war to end. All of us. I mean, it’s terrible. So many people are losing their lives there. The fact that President Trump was able to break the deadlock—he was the only one able to do this—and to get, hopefully, the Russians to negotiate at the table in a durable way is important. And I have no doubt that the Americans want to play a very positive role. Here in this region, they are playing a positive role, they’re part of KFOR, and they’re involved in all of this. But I’m absolutely sure that President Trump wants the same. Obviously, they are very focused now on Ukraine, and rightly so.

How feasible is the agreement on Ukraine at this particular moment?

Well, I think it will be a step-by-step approach, and hopefully, we will get to a ceasefire/peace deal as soon as possible. We will see the fighting stop, we will stop the killing of people on both sides, which is really terrible. But we also have to make sure that it’s durable, that it’s lasting peace—that it’s not some kind of „Minsk 3,“ where the Russians try again in a couple of years. It has to be a long-term, sustainable, lasting, durable peace.

Do you rule out any possibility that NATO troops could be deployed on Ukrainian soil in case there is no agreement with the security guarantees that NATO is requesting?

Well, you know, this question is so difficult to answer. Why is that? Because, first of all, when it comes to NATO, the U.S. has been clear. The U.S. doesn’t want NATO membership for Ukraine, and the U.S. has been clear that they themselves do not want to have boots on the ground in Ukraine. So, these two red lines have been clearly established. What we now need to have, first, is a peace deal, and this is what Donald Trump told me a couple of years ago when we spoke on the phone: „Hey, Mark, it’s great that you guys in Europe are talking about how to maintain the peace, how to get security guarantees for Ukraine. But first, the deal—the ceasefire/peace deal.“ And I’m very happy that the French and the Brits are working very hard to come up with a model that might work in the case of a peace deal for Ukraine. But there might be other models to do that, and it has to start—and here I agree with President Trump—with an actual ceasefire/peace deal because you cannot maintain peace if there is no peace. So, it has to be step by step.

Back to the region, to what extent are the Balkan leaders still factors of stability? Very often, Mr. Dodik is portrayed as the chief troublemaker in the region, but what about Mr. Albin Kurti? I.E., due to his one-sided and uncoordinated moves? Do you see him as a partner, or rather as a troublemaker?

Well, you know, I try to work very hard on my relations with the three-member presidency in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Of course, I do not have relations with the regional leadership of President Dodik of Republika Srpska. I have my contacts with the three-person presidency in Sarajevo. I have my relationship here with Madam Osmani and Mr. Kurti, and of course, with Aleksandar Vučić. We’ve been working together for many years, and we have always worked very well together. I really look forward to him visiting me, hopefully next week or the week after, in Brussels. But then, of course, in my messaging to all of them, I try to be as even-handed as possible because, in the end, it doesn’t make sense for me to have preferences about who I would like to work with more than the other. What we need to achieve here is dialing back the tensions. Nobody wants to go back to 1995 or, in the case of Kosovo, to 1999, and everybody wants to tap into the potential.

Let me rephrase the question: To what extent are Mr. Albin Kurti’s one-sided and uncoordinated moves endangering regional stability?

But then I should, in the case of even-handedness, of course, when I speak with the Kosovan leadership, I tell them, it’s important that you are as predictable as possible. And please, do that. And when I speak to President Vučić, I’m also clear that when it comes to, for example, what happened here in 2023, we need accountability about what happened, and I know that he wants it, by the way. So, I have no doubt that he will work on this. But I press this with him, and I will press Kurti and Osmani— we need predictability. Again, be as even-handed as possible.

When you mention „accountability,“ connecting it to Belgrade/Aleksandar Vučić, to which particular cases do you refer?

I mentioned what happened in 2023.

Do you refer to Banjska?

Banjska, and of course, the attack on KFOR forces, when 93-94 KFOR soldiers were injured.

What about the Ibar-Lepenac investigation? Do you have any information about this case?

You mean the one from last November?

Yes.

Well, as far as I know, that investigation is ongoing. I’ve heard a lot of rumors, so I would really say, let’s stick with the facts. They haven’t been established. So, let’s stop finger-pointing at anyone.

So, many months after, you are confirming that the investigation is ongoing?

Well, I’m not investigating, but I understand that people in the region are investigating what happened. And I want to prevent regional leaders from starting to point at each other because that’s not helpful in my overall mission, together with the EU, and particularly with Mr. Sorensen, who will lead the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. It’s important to make sure that we dial back the tensions instead of adding to them.

To what extent are you aware of the very sensitive— I think the precise word is “difficult” or “aggravated”—situation in which Kosovo Serbs are? And can you guarantee that Kosovo Serbs can survive under these circumstances before both sides come to a certain compromise, as you say?

Well, first of all, for KFOR, we are here to take care of everybody in Kosovo. Everybody. That includes absolutely the Kosovo Serbs. The fact that KFOR has now quadrupled its presence in the north and tripled its visibility in the north is a clear testimony to the fact that KFOR has the ambition to remain the anchor of stability in the whole country, including in the north, and ensuring that the Kosovan leadership, when it comes to the KSF, can only deploy the KSF with prior concurrence of KFOR. When it comes to the Kosovo Police, it is important that they inform KFOR about what they are doing, etc. So that they are really sticking to the agreement.

Yet, one-sided actions from Pristina are still taking place in the north, and are actually destabilizing the community itself?

And again, when you say this, I want to be even-handed. So, when I speak with Kurti and Osmani, I tell them: refrain from unilateral actions generally. But when I speak with President Vučić, I tell him—establish accountability for what happened in 2023, and that’s being even-handed. When I speak to the leadership in Sarajevo, I say to all three members of the presidency, including the chairwoman and the other two from each of the three constituent peoples as a collective: Take leadership in Bosnia and Herzegovina, don’t delegate this to a High Representative. Yes, he’s there. Yes, I support the High Representative, but you should not need that person. You should be able to run the country yourselves, but it can only happen if the three of you agree.

Is Mr. Vučić still a factor of stability for the West?

He is the president of Serbia, and Serbia, in terms of size and impact in the region, is a very important country. And that means I like to work with him. I like to work with Osmani and Kurti. I like to work with the three-member presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. I don’t have friends or enemies there. I like them all the same and want them to make sure that we dial back the tensions.

Recently, the Kosovan defense minister said that Kosovo was ready to „defend itself“ even without NATO. How do you comment on that?

Well, I’m not going to comment on everything every politician says.

Is Kosovo sustainable without KFOR?

Yes, Kosovo is a country, which is recognized, not by all members and allies in the alliance, but except for four, it is totally recognized as an independent country. That’s Kosovo. The leadership of Kosovo is important because they have to make sure that this country stays stable. KFOR here is committed because we see ourselves as an anchor of stability in this country. And there is nobody here in Kosovo who wants to kick us out. They want us to stay here. They want to have a strong relationship.

What if the U.S. walks out of KFOR?

Again, all my impressions from my talks with the American leadership show that they are very much committed to KFOR.

Thank you.