NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that Ukraine's accession to the Alliance is no longer under consideration. He made this statement in an interview with Bloomberg TV's Annemarie Gordern on Friday.

Rutte was asked whether Trump had really removed the issue of Ukraine's accession to NATO from the negotiating table. To this he answered in the affirmative "Yes."

Rutte also welcomed Trump's peacemaking efforts and said that NATO would benefit from him putting Europe in charge of its own defense. According to the secretary general, "Trump is fully committed to the Alliance."

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said relations with Russia "should eventually be normalized" once the fighting ends in Ukraine. "It’s normal if the war would have stopped for Europe somehow, step by step, and also for the US, step by step, to restore normal relations with Russia," Rutte said in an interview on Bloomberg TV Friday.

Bloomberg notes that Rutte has engaged in intense diplomacy in recent weeks to hold the transatlantic alliance together as President Donald Trump has scaled back support for Ukraine and signaled that the United States will retreat from its traditional security role in Europe. The surprise move has prompted European countries to boost defense spending and reassess their military posture.

Rutte met with Trump on Thursday at the White House, where they discussed a potential U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Ukraine. Europe has been largely sidelined from the talks, a fact that has angered many European leaders.