NATO chief "It is in Putin's favor to publicly mention peace negotiations"

While U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is calling for an early end to the war in Ukraine, North Atlantic Treaty Organization and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutter expressed the need for "strategic ambiguity."

"The important agenda is to ensure that Ukraine is in the most advantageous position when we decide to start peace negotiations," Rutter told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Brussels, Belgium, on the 18th local time.

At the same time, he worried that speaking openly about when negotiations will begin or whether to deploy European peacekeepers could work in Russian President Vladimir Putin's favor.

"All those discussions will begin when Zelensky and Putin sit in peace negotiations and it's up to them," Rutter said.

President Zelenskyy will also stay in Brussels for two days, expecting it to be a "very good opportunity to discuss Ukraine's security guarantee for today and tomorrow."

He then emphasized, "It is important for Europe to take a common position on how to keep Ukraine safe and how to make the Ukrainian people and the military stronger."