NATO announced on short notice that Secretary General Mark Rutte will meet with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Wednesday.
No public press events were planned, NATO spokeswoman Allison Hart said late Tuesday.
The meeting comes amid Trump’s ongoing efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
He spoke last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone and indicated plans for a potential meeting with the Kremlin leader in Budapest.
But US media, citing Trump administration sources, reported on Tuesday that the Budapest meeting has either been put on hold or delayed.
Ukraine hopes that if Putin fails to make concessions, Trump will renew support for Kiev and approve the sale of US-made Tomahawk cruise missiles to the country.
“The further Ukrainian weapons reach, the greater Russia’s willingness to end the war,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message released Tuesday evening.
Political and military support for Ukraine will also be discussed on Friday at talks of the so-called Coalition of the Willing in London, led by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Rutte typically participates in these meetings of Ukraine’s key supporters.
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