President Donald Trump met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House on Thursday. Around the same time, reports came in that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed in principle to a 30-day ceasefire. Trump commented on the news, saying, “Hopefully, they’ll do the right thing,” referring to Russia.
Trump has been pressuring European allies to contribute more money to NATO’s defense fund. He has publicly asked other countries to increase their contributions to as much as 5% of their GDP. At the same meeting, Trump also mentioned his interest in acquiring Greenland, a self-governing territory of Denmark known for its untapped rare-earth minerals and offshore oil and gas reserves.
Pointing to the NATO chief, Trump said, “I’m sitting with a man who could be instrumental,” suggesting that Rutte might help push for Greenland to become part of the U.S. He added, “I think it will happen… We need that for international security.” However, Rutte did not seem to support the idea and responded awkwardly, saying, “When it comes to Greenland joining the U.S., I don’t want to drag NATO into that.”
Earlier today, Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly agreed to support a 30-day ceasefire between Russian and Ukrainian forces. The announcement was made during a press conference with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
During the event, Putin said that any peace agreement must lead to long-term stability and address the deeper issues behind the conflict. His remarks came while a U.S. envoy, Steve Witkoff, was in Moscow for negotiations about the ceasefire. Meanwhile, the Kremlin claims it is close to completing its military operation to push Ukrainian forces out of areas Russia occupied in the Kursk region.
The ceasefire could be an important step toward ending the conflict, but many challenges remain. Putin stated, “We agree with the proposal to stop the fighting, but it should lead to lasting peace and solve the root causes of this crisis.”
