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Translated by: Ideal Zhubi
- July 13, 2025 17:40
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NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will meet with Donald Trump this week, shortly after the US president announced plans to sell weapons to Ukraine through the North Atlantic alliance, the AP reported.
Through an announcement on the NATO website, it has been announced that Rutte will be in Washington on Monday and Tuesday, meeting with Trump, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, as well as representatives of Congress.
The visit comes as Trump warned he would issue a "major statement" about Russia on Monday, as Ukraine struggles to repel large and sophisticated air strikes launched by Russian forces.
Rubio said Friday that some of the American-made weapons that Ukraine is seeking are already in the possession of NATO allies in Europe. He said those weapons could be transferred to Ukraine, while European countries could buy replacements from the United States.
"It's much faster to move something, for example, from Germany to Ukraine than to order it from a factory (in the US) and get it there," Rubio told reporters during a visit to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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Rutte meets Trump ahead of NATO summit
Trump is also facing calls from Republicans and Democrats, as well as European allies, to support a special bill in the Senate that aims to hit Russia's oil industry and impose US sanctions on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
The bill, among other things, would impose a 500% tariff on goods imported from countries that continue to buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports. Such a measure would have a major economic impact on giants like China and India, which account for roughly 70% of Russia's energy trade.
