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Mark Rutte: “There was an agreement on the irreversible path of Ukraine…”

Featuring: Mark Rutte, People's Party for Freedom and Democracy | Secretary General of NATO | International

Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC

Published April 9, 2026 | Video Starts at 40:58

Okay. So at the NATO summit in Washington, when NATO was celebrating the 75 years, There was an agreement on the irreversible path of Ukraine into NATO at the NATO summit in Washington. fact of the matter is that a couple of countries are holding back, including Germany and Slovakia, Hungary, the United States. So I don't think it is on the table right now. (40:58–41:08)

CLAIM

Asserts an agreement on Ukraine's path to NATO membership.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Mark Rutte

“The president drove allies toward a historic decision at NATO summit in the Hague last summer to invest 5% of GDP into defence.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 01:44-01:54
“A Dutch F35 fired the shot that took down [a Russian drone] in Poland.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 07:47-07:54
“Europeans are spending in the U.S. it was 10 billion in 2020. It was already 43 billion in 2024.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 25:48-25:55
“Russia is losing massive amounts of people each month, up to a month with 30,000 to 35,000 people dead or seriously wounded.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 27:36-27:48
“Western European forces shrank and defence budgets shriveled into irrelevance over reliance on the notion that security was just the new…”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 00:06-00:22
“President Trump's commitment to progress reversed more than a generation of stagnation and atrophy by reminding Europe that values must be…”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 01:18-01:32
“Allies are moving quickly to secure the budgets, grow their armed forces and field the capabilities we know we need.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 02:34-02:42
“Europe is assuming a greater and fairer share of the task of providing for its conventional defense.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 05:06-05:13
“Allies are providing a massive amount of support, basing logistics and other measures to ensure the powerful US Military succeeds in denying…”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 06:17-06:38
“European allies play leading roles in NATO's operations to secure our eastern flank, the Baltic Sea and the Arctic.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 07:09-07:19
“It was European aircraft Italians in the lead, backed up by Finns and Swedes that turned [Russian MiG31s] back.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 07:35-07:35
“NATO is changing thanks to American leadership and a collective commitment to ensuring continued freedom and security.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 09:01-09:11
“The overwhelming majority of Europeans have done what the US asked of [them] and what was previously agreed.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 11:29-11:38
“NATO is there, of course, to protect the Europeans, but also to protect the United States.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 11:58-12:04
“These huge nuclear submarines from Russia are not there to attack Norway. They are there to attack the United States.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 12:04-12:15
“NATO was founded because the United States didn't want to repeat a mistake after the Second World War of isolationism.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 13:27-13:33
“It has always been a long standing position of NATO that Iran should not get its hands on a nuclear capability, but also not on a ballistic…”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 16:51-17:03
“Under US leadership those capabilities [Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities] have been severely degraded.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 17:04-17:09
“The Netherlands, announcing yesterday, it will probably be about minehunters, it will be frigates, it will be about the radar technology.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 19:09-19:20
“This is not only NATO nations. This is Including Japan, Korea, Australia being part of this. Countries like Bahrain and the UAE in the Gulf…”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 19:53-20:05
“Over time the US wants more and more to pivot towards the Indo Pacific.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 20:40-20:44
“Countries like Belgium, Spain, Italy, and Canada, big economies, were not in 2% [defense spending] to all reached the 2% in one go.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 22:11-22:21
“Without President Trump, I'm not sure they would have done that in only nine to 12 months.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 22:22-22:27
“For Italy, it is an increase of defense spending of 10 billion in one year.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 22:28-22:33
“The whole of the alliance having committed to the 5% at the summit in the Hague.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 22:33-22:37
“In the European system, you have an election cycle of three or four years.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 25:40-25:45
“In the U.S. system, you have a one-year cycle.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 25:49-25:49
“The Ukrainians are staunchly defending themselves and they are using the latest technology, the drone technology.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 28:23-28:31
“We need a settlement for this, a peace deal.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 28:51-28:55
“The coalition of the willing, including the key interlocutor with the United States.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 29:33-29:40
“We agreed on a three-layer pose. Layer one is the Ukrainian armed forces. They have to be the strongest possible with great huge investments…”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 29:39-29:49
“The third layer being the United States providing the backstop to that coalition.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 29:55-30:01
“In all the country of the eastern flank we have now what we in NATO parliament are called the forward land forces.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 30:55-31:03
“These are multi-country forces defending, helping to defend for example Latvia where it is Canada taking the lead, Estonia where the UK is…”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 31:02-31:16
“Lithuania where my country, the Netherlands is active under leadership of Germany.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 31:16-31:21
“We have an amazing senior commander, a four-star general who is constantly with his team assessing what is the best way to make use of all…”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 32:02-32:17
“North Korea, China, Iran, Belarus, and Russia are working together when it comes to this war of aggression against Ukraine.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 39:00-39:11
“Iran and Russia are cooperating in drone technology and other military technology.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 39:10-39:15
“Iran is the main exporter of chaos in the Middle East through their proxies and directly.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 39:21-39:34
“Iran is trying to build ballistic missile capability and nuclear capability.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 39:21-39:34
“A couple of countries, including Germany, Slovakia, Hungary, and the United States, are holding back on Ukraine's NATO membership.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 41:07-41:15
“There is a joint center in Poland, JTEC, where lessons from the war in Ukraine are being learned.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 41:49-42:03
“We are trying to capture all those lessons also to figure them into our NATO defense plans going forward and particularly when it comes to…”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 42:05-42:16
“Now that all of alliance has reached this 2% threshold, so the foundation is now laid.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 43:46-43:51
“Most likely if China would move against Taiwan, why not first call your junior partner in all of this which is Ron Vladimir.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 43:55-44:04
“We cannot look at these two theaters separately. They are all interconnected.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 44:42-44:46
“Most of them did [live up to commitments]. Not all of them, but most of them.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 45:38-45:42
“We cannot accept the strait to be closed. And it has to be opening up.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 45:59-46:03
“The Arctic is at the moment eight countries. Seven are part of NATO, one Russia not.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 47:10-47:16
“We started Arctic Sentry, which is bringing together five of the NATO countries in the Arctic.”
Live: As Trump considers NATO withdrawal, Mark Rutte delivers speech in Washington DC | Uploaded April 9, 2026 | 47:37-47:44