We must prepare for war. That is the best way to avoid it,” Rutte said in an interview with Bild. According to him, Europe must “not show weakness” toward Russia. Rutte noted that the threat does not come from Russia alone,

Ukraine has repeatedly said it does not want a ceasefire without obtaining security guarantees that would stop Moscow from regenerating its forces and launching another invasion in the future.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says excluding his country from talks between the U.S. and Russia about the war in Ukraine would be "very dangerous."