The NATO secretary general on Thursday reiterated the need to strengthen Ukraine before any peace talks start.
"Clearly, what we need to achieve is for Ukraine to get in the best possible position when talks start, and then to make sure that when talks end on peace in Ukraine, that the outcome is enduring, is durable," Mark Rutte told a joint news conference with Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov in Brussels.
"We need to continue the military support," he added.
Rutte said a "joint structure between Ukraine and NATO" will start next week in Poland to make sure that both sides "capture all the lessons and all the insights from what" is being done in Ukraine.
Umerov, for his part, stressed that his country was "continuing" the fight.
"We are strong, we are capable, we are able, we will deliver," he said, and thanked NATO countries for their support.
The minister said Ukraine's focus was "security assistance," and added: "The US is with us, continuing security assistance, NATO is taking over our security assistance and training … We are thankful to NATO and the leadership of NATO."
US President Donald Trump, after speaking to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over the phone, said they agreed to start negotiations to end the three-year-long Ukraine war "immediately." He also spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The phone calls came after US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said a return to Ukraine's pre-2014 borders-when Russia annexed Crimea-was unrealistic and that the US does not see NATO membership for Kyiv as part of the solution.
European leaders have since insisted that Kyiv and Europe should be involved in any peace discussions.
