NATO secretary general says Trump will be "testing Putin" in Friday meeting

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Sunday that President Trump will be "testing" Russian President Vladimir Putin in their landmark face-to-face meeting set for Friday, as world leaders push for a ceasefire deal in Russia's war with Ukraine.

"On Friday, it is important to see how serious Putin is, and the only one who can do that is President Trump," Rutte said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."

Mr. Trump announced the "highly anticipated" summit with Putin in a post on Truth Social late last week, saying the leaders are set to meet Friday in Alaska.

The U.S. president had expressed frustration with Putin in recent weeks, as Russia pounded Ukraine with drone and missile attacks, including what Ukraine described as the largest such attacks since the invasion began in February 2022. Then last week, the tide within the administration appeared to turn, as Mr. Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin in Moscow, and the two countries began suggesting openness to a meeting between the two presidents.

Mr. Trump told reporters late last week that Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy want "to see peace." And although the White House had indicated earlier in the week that Mr. Trump is open to meeting with both Putin and Zelenskyy, Mr. Trump said that he plans to "start off with Russia," while adding that "we have a shot at" convening a trilateral meeting with Putin and Zelenskyy. Two sources told CBS News Saturday that Mr. Trump is still willing to meet jointly with Zelenskyy and Putin, but the meeting currently remains bilateral, as Putin requested.

Rutte, asked whether he's comfortable with Ukraine being excluded from these negotiations on Friday, said when it comes to discussion of territory, security guarantees, peace talks and what happens next, "Ukraine will have to be — and will be — involved."

"It's really crucial that a meeting takes place. It will not be the final say on this," Rutte said. "Of course, Ukraine will have to be involved in Europe, but it is important to start the next phase of this process, putting pressure on the Russians, exactly as President Trump has been doing over the last six months."

Rutte argued that Mr. Trump "basically broke the deadlock" by starting a dialogue with Putin earlier this year, calling it a "crucial" development.

He generally lauded Mr. Trump's strategy. Rutte touted a "great NATO Summit" under the U.S. president's leadership, with commitments for each member state to raise defense spending to 5% of their GDP, in a sign to Russia that "we are serious." And Rutte credited Mr. Trump for allowing U.S. weapons to be delivered into Ukraine, which he said "opened the floodgates," while lauding the planned secondary sanctions on some of the biggest buyers of Russian oil and gas, including India.

The secretary general said NATO-coordinated weapons deliveries will continue regardless of what happens at the Friday summit, emphasizing its commitment to "making sure that Ukraine has what it needs to stay in the fight and be in the best possible position" when the time comes for negotiations for a ceasefire or peace deal.

On the possibility of those negotiations beginning, Rutte said Friday's meeting "is President Trump making sure that Putin is serious."

"If he is not, then it will stop there," Rutte said. "If he is serious, then from Friday onwards, the process will continue — Ukraine getting involved, the Europeans being involved."

It remains unclear what form an eventual ceasefire or peace deal could take, as Russia has demanded that Ukraine cede the parts of eastern Ukraine that are occupied by Russian troops — which Ukraine has rejected. Mr. Trump said last week any deal will likely involve "some swapping of territories."

Rutte said Sunday that Russia's control over Ukrainian territory can never be accepted "in a legal sense," but negotiations could cover "how to deal with the factual situation that the Russians are holding, at this moment, Ukrainian territory."

Ukraine's Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, also appeared on "Face the Nation" Sunday, and said that "all Ukraine prays for President Trump to be effective and to have great results."

"We want Putin to stop," Markarova said. "And we really are hopeful that this push from President Trump and the sanction packages which are on the table and secondary sanctions which are already implemented against those who help Russia will convince President Putin that this is time for him to finally stop his aggression."

Markarova said Zelenskyy is willing to participate in future meetings as needed, but didn't criticize the fact that the Alaska meeting will only feature the U.S. and Russian leaders, saying, "sometimes diplomacy requires different formats."

Still, others have expressed concern about the planned meeting between Mr. Trump and Putin. Sen. Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat who also appeared on "Face the Nation" Sunday, said, "I hope we got something out of this," saying the administration "should have extracted something for this visit."

"Putin is a war criminal," Kelly said. "This is not a show of strength to allow him to fly into the United States, to land here, to negotiate with our president."

Jennifer Jacobs contributed to this report.