POLITICS

NATO chief backs Trump sanctions, urges pressure

NATO chief Mark Rutte, after meeting President Donald Trump at the White House, praised US–NATO ties and backed fresh U.S. sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies, urging sustained pressure for a Ukraine ceasefire. Rutte said Trump uniquely opened a dialogue with Vladimir Putin, though Trump canceled a planned meeting with the Russian leader, resisted providing Tomahawks to Ukraine citing their complexity, and said the U.S. would not fire them. Trump said he’ll press China’s Xi Jinping on ending the war, halted U.S. payments to Colombia amid drug disputes, and defended strikes on suspected smuggling boats.

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