At a press conference in Brussels on February 11, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that US President Donald Trump fully understands the "terrible situation" in Ukraine. He was reported to have answered with clear confidence when asked by DW, "Does the American administration understand the current level of pressure on Ukraine?"
It is noteworthy that Rutte answered this question twice with a "yes" and also when asked whether he discussed with Trump what he had seen during his visit to Ukraine. However, he categorically refused to reveal the content of the conversation: he repeatedly emphasized the position that "I will never reveal it."
The NATO chief stressed that the US has “absolute clarity” about what is happening in Ukraine. Rutte is in regular contact with Trump, and they are constantly exchanging information about the situation — “what is happening” and “what they are seeing.” But Rutte did not provide any specific details about what he said to Trump at the end of his visit to Ukraine, what Trump’s reaction was, or whether the conversations influenced Washington’s subsequent stance on support.
The background is grim. According to senior NATO sources, Russia has significantly stepped up attacks on Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure this winter. Alliance officials have described the situation in the energy sector as particularly worrying, noting that strikes have sometimes targeted civilian targets that are “of little or no military importance.”
Another worrying figure was also mentioned in NATO discussions: the number of attack drones launched by Russia against Ukraine during 2025 has increased sharply, according to some estimates, to about 55 thousand - this is several times more than in 2024.
In short, Rutte's signals indicate that Washington has no more excuses for "not understanding the situation", but the real question is another - is understanding enough or will it translate into practical decisions. And for Ukraine, time is very precious: every night of strikes, every cold snap is not just statistics, but the real lives of people.
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