Rutte does not believe Putin: the Russian dictator denied Russia's participation in the war in Donbass, calling it a lie.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has issued a sharp statement to Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying he does not trust him because of his personal experience of being lied to by the Russian leader.
The British publication The Guardian reports this.
“I have not changed my opinion of Vladimir Putin. I do not trust this man,” Rutte stressed.
The politician recalled a series of personal conversations with Putin that took place after the crash of passenger plane flight MH17 in July 2014.
At that time, the Malaysian Boeing was shot down over the occupied part of Donetsk Oblast by a Russian Buk anti-aircraft missile system. At that time, Rutte headed the government of the Netherlands, whose citizens died in the plane crash.
“Putin told me that his troops were not in Donbass, that he has nothing to do with Ukraine. And so on and so forth. All of this was a lie,” Rutte emphasized.
According to him, the Kremlin aimed to divide the West, but got the opposite result.
“So he cannot be very happy, and he should not be very happy,” Rutte added, commenting on Putin's prospects.
Let us recall that Rutte also believes that it would be naive to underestimate the threat posed to the Alliance member states by the Russian Federation, which is waging an unprovoked war in Ukraine.
Also, the Hungarian Prime Minister expressed doubt at the NATO summit that Russia poses a real threat to NATO.
