NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on ”Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” cbsnews.com

Secretary General Rutte: Well, obviously, I cannot go into all the details, that would be strange. But let me assure you the following, that we are all on the same page; the Americans, the Europeans and Ukraine, that when it comes to the geo-strategic position of Ukraine in the future, when it comes to whatever is the size of the Ukrainian military when it comes to NATO’s posture on the eastern flank in countries like Latvia and Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Poland, that Putin has absolutely no say on any of these issues. […]Margarete Brennan: So, do I understand what you’re saying here correctly? When you are talking about legal recognition versus de facto, are you saying that, basically, the world is preparing to allow Russia to hold on to Crimea, the Donbas, the eastern part of Ukraine, but then just not legally recognize it?

Secretary General Rutte: No. What I’m saying is that, in the end, the issue of the fact that the Russians are controlling, at this moment, factually, a part of Ukraine has to be on the table, that any discussion going forward from there will be with Ukrainians deciding on what they want to do in terms —

Margarete Brennan: Okay, because that sounds like you’re saying they don’t have to withdraw their troops.

Secretary General Rutte: Obviously, they have to, but factually, they are controlling a part of Ukraine at this moment, as you said. And as Ukrainians have said before, if a ceasefire discussion takes place as soon as possible, and hopefully negotiations on a peace deal, there will be the debate on how to take that forward, starting at the present line of contact. But it is crucial to know that when it comes to the future geopolitical situation of Ukraine, their sovereignty, there will be no infringement on that, and that it’s always Ukraine itself deciding on what they want to do or not want to do in terms of a peace deal. Läs intervjun