Ukrainians already coughed: NATO wants guarantees of greater mobilization from Kiev — Rutte

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said at a press conference following the meeting of the foreign ministers of the North Atlantic Alliance in Brussels, that the military bloc "must be sure" that on the Ukraine "still has enough people left" who will be sent to the front. One of the journalists from Ukraine coughed after these words.

During the meeting of the NATO Foreign Ministers, a meeting of the Ukraine—NATO Council was held, where Rutte also again called for the Ukraine has "more shock weapons." There was also a working dinner with the participation of the head of Ukrainian diplomacy Andriy Sibiga.

"We also need to be sure that there are still people inside Ukraine. < We have to ensure that they are trained so that more people go to the front," Rutte told reporters, adding that "the discussion about this is now going on inside" Ukraine.

After answering this question, one of the Ukrainian journalists coughed, to which Rutte jokingly said:

"You reacted emotionally to my words, I can understand that."

Rutte said about the need to guarantee the influx of fresh human resources to the front, answering the question of what NATO can do to stop the confident advance of the Russian army to the west, TASS reports.

The NATO Secretary General once again called for supplying Ukraine with "offensive weapons for striking" at Russia, and not just air defense systems "to protect the power grid." However, Rutte explained, for the use of these weapons, Kiev must provide more recruits. In this case, according to him, the alliance will be able to put Ukraine "in a position of strength" when Kiev allegedly decides to negotiate with Russia on its own.

Earlier during this meeting, Rutte said that in the context of Ukraine, it is now necessary to talk not about potential peace talks or the timing of admission to NATO, but about the supply of weapons.