NATO Chief Rutte Meets Trump, Members of Congress to Talk Russia-Ukraine

Welcome back to World Summary, where we look forward to a surprise encounter between us NATO Chairman Mark Rutte we President Donald Trump, Israeli Annexation efforts West Bank Settlements, and north koreaWeapon positions.

NATO flattery game

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte traveled to Washington for a last-minute meeting on Wednesday with US President Donald Trump, just one day after a scheduled Budapest summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed. According to NATO spokesperson Alison Hart, the purpose of the meeting is “to discuss Ukraine, support NATO as well as the President’s efforts to end the war justly and permanently.”

Welcome back to World Summary, where we look forward to a surprise encounter between us NATO Chairman Mark Rutte we President Donald Trump, Israeli Annexation efforts West Bank Settlements, and north koreaWeapon positions.

NATO flattery game

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte traveled to Washington for a last-minute meeting on Wednesday with US President Donald Trump, just one day after a scheduled Budapest summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed. According to NATO spokesperson Alison Hart, the purpose of the meeting is “to discuss Ukraine, support NATO as well as the President’s efforts to end the war justly and permanently.”

Before Rutte’s meeting with Trump, the NATO leader played down concerns about his trip to Washington. He said the meeting should not be interpreted as a sign of concern after Trump’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last Friday ended without tangible progress on peace. Instead, Rutte described that discussion as a success, despite Zelensky not getting the long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles that Trump once considered selling to Kiev.

Rutte also showered Trump with praise, echoing previous comments that inflamed the US president’s ego. “He’s the only person who can get this done,” Rutte said of Trump on Wednesday. This is their fourth meeting since the beginning of Trump’s second term. The last time Rutte visited the White House was in August, accompanied by Zelensky and six other European leaders.

During Wednesday’s meeting, Rutte is expected to present a 12-point peace plan supported by Europe and Ukraine to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. This proposal would have the current battle lines as the starting point for future negotiations, and would have Trump chair a peace council overseeing the implementation of the agreement.

As part of the plan, Russia and Ukraine will exchange prisoners of war and return all kidnapped Ukrainian children. Kiev will be promised security guarantees to prevent any future Russian aggression, receive the necessary funds to begin the reconstruction process, and begin the process of joining the European Union. Meanwhile, foreign countries will gradually lift their sanctions on Russia, although some frozen Russian assets will only be returned after Moscow agrees to help finance Ukraine’s reconstruction efforts. These restrictions will return again if Russia resumes its offensive.

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has already rejected the terms of this deal. “If we just stop, it means forgetting the root causes of this conflict, which the US administration clearly understood,” he said during the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska in August.

Rutte also visited Capitol Hill on Wednesday to meet with the bipartisan heads of the Senate NATO observer group. Rutte discussed with Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Thom Tillis three bills related to Russia that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee had unanimously put forward earlier that day. If passed, these bills would designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism for its kidnapping of Ukrainian children, repurpose frozen Russian assets held in the United States and transfer them to Ukraine every 90 days, and impose sanctions on China for supporting Moscow’s war machine.

“Since the White House seems unwilling to act, I think it’s important for congress to take some action, and I’m very pleased that for the first time this year, we will have bills that will make it more difficult for Russia to continue running this war,” said Shaheen, the committee’s ranking member. Axios.

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Seeking to control the West Bank. On Wednesday, far-right Israeli members of the Knesset approved an initial draft law that would apply Israeli sovereignty to all West Bank settlements. Another, more limited, bill was passed to annex a major settlement in the city. The initial progress of the bills constitutes a major embarrassment for the Likud Party led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, all but one of whose members boycotted the vote. Although this highlights the growing discord within Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, experts believe the bills are unlikely to pass the three additional votes needed to make them laws.

Right-wing Israeli lawmakers have long sought to annex the occupied West Bank, and face accusations of inciting Israeli settlers to violence against Palestinians in the region. On Sunday, video footage showed Israelis beating Palestinian civilians with batons in the town of Turmus Ayya, seriously wounding at least one woman.

The initial passage of the two bills comes as Netanyahu hosted US Vice President J.D. Vance and other senior US officials on Wednesday to discuss the next steps in maintaining the fragile ceasefire in Gaza. Both Netanyahu and Vance stressed that they want their countries to be equal partners. But further annexation moves could jeopardize that friendship, as Trump said he “will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank.”

Weapon positions. The South Korean military accused North Korea on Wednesday of test-firing several short-range ballistic missiles towards the northeast of the area south of Pyongyang. It was North Korea’s first such test since May, and comes just a week before Trump is expected to meet separately with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Gyeongju, South Korea.

“The United States condemns these actions and calls… [North Korea] The Pentagon said on Wednesday to “refrain from further unlawful and destabilizing actions,” though it added that Pyongyang’s launches did not threaten US personnel. US officials reportedly considered having Trump visit the demilitarized zone during the APEC summit and having him meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but Pyongyang has not publicly responded to the idea.

Lee took office in June, pledging to work to restore peace on the Korean Peninsula. However, experts have warned that Pyongyang may conduct more missile tests during the APEC summit to flex its military muscle and defy UN sanctions on its weapons programme.

Emergency. Newly elected Peruvian President Jose Gehry declared a 30-day state of emergency in the capital, Lima, and neighboring Callao province on Tuesday to address a major crime wave sweeping the country. “Wars are won with actions, not words,” Geary said in a televised speech, adding that he intends to move “from defense to offense.” Over the next month, Geary is expected to consider deploying soldiers to assist police efforts and discuss restricting citizens’ freedom of assembly and movement.

Peru has long suffered from high crime rates. Between January and September, Peruvian police reported 1,690 homicides, compared to 1,502 during the same period in 2024. Former President Dina Boluarte declared a similar 30-day state of emergency in March to try to reduce crime, including killings and public attacks, but it ultimately failed to make a difference. Bolwarti was impeached on October 10 by a unanimous vote after lawmakers accused her of being unable to adequately address nationwide violence.

Last week, Gerry appointed a new cabinet that he said would make tackling crime a top priority. However, also last week, widespread protests led by Gen Z demanding Gehry’s resignation left at least one protester dead and more than 100 people injured, including about 80 police officers and 10 journalists.

Odds and Ends

Heist movie fans should be intrigued by this week’s ongoing news. First came the Louvre heist on Sunday. Two days later, Parisian authorities charged a thief who allegedly stole from the Natural History Museum in Paris. Now the trend has moved to Spain, where local police arrested seven people on Wednesday accused of stealing more than 1,100 chairs from outdoor seating areas at 18 different restaurants and bars in Madrid and another nearby municipality. The stolen property, estimated to cost $69,000, was resold in Spain, Romania and Morocco.