Last week, Rutte said relations with Russia should eventually be normalized once the fighting ends in Ukraine. "But we are absolutely not there yet, we have to maintain the pressure on them," he told Bloomberg.  

The head of the alliance was speaking amid discussions of a proposed 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine and after a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday (March 14).

Asked about his comments on Sunday's "Ukraine Stuudio," Raik they may have weakened NATO's unity.

"The meeting between Rutte and Trump demonstrated NATO's efforts to keep the U.S. engaged. This is not an easy task. Rutte was very clearly trying to flatter Trump and ended up saying things that did not sound particularly good. For example, when Trump spoke about Greenland, Rutte did not say anything to indicate that it was unacceptable for the U.S. to threaten an allied country," she told the show.

"As for restoring relations with Russia, I am not sure how much of this was Rutte trying to say something that would please Trump. But let's be honest, there are plenty of European countries and leaders who share this opinion. However, there is no unified stance on this within NATO, and from the perspective of many member states, it is entirely inappropriate to talk about restoring relations with Russia at this time. So, with this statement, I believe Rutte undermined NATO's unity," Raik added.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said relations with Russia should eventually be normalized once the fighting ends in Ukraine, "but we are absolutely not there yet, we have to maintain the pressure on them" https://t.co/Kfy6tJMNb7 pic.twitter.com/5KJ8kS3Zy3

— Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) March 14, 2025

Last week, Putin said he agreed to the ceasefire but listed several conditions. This includes removing "the root causes of this crisis."

Raik said Russia is attempting to delay the ceasefire negotiation process.

"Vladimir Putin did not want to outright say no to Donald Trump, as that would have put him in a difficult position. He feels he must try to meet Trump halfway somehow, but it is clear that Russia is not willing to give up any of its demands. Instead, it is working toward possibly securing further concessions from Trump before negotiations even begin," she explained.

Raik believes Trump will make additional concessions to Moscow to reach a ceasefire.

"If we look at what Trump has done so far, he has shown surprising weakness toward Russia. He has always been willing to make concessions, has allowed himself to be influenced by Russia, and has not been prepared to put pressure on it. I would not be very hopeful that this would change now," she said.

"Perhaps there is a small hope that Trump might become frustrated that Russia is not playing along with his wishes and will then start applying pressure, but there are no signs of that so far. Rather, it appears that Trump's primary goal is to restore relations with Russia and reach some kind of resolution in Ukraine. What exactly that resolution entails likely does not matter much to Trump. So, we must also be prepared for the possibility that it is Ukraine that the U.S. will pressure into making further concessions," she told the show.

Trump can pressure Russia if he wants to.

"So far, he has not done so. He could have immediately, in his first weeks in office, increased military support to Ukraine and ramped up economic pressure on Russia. That would be a way to push Russia to the negotiating table. Without such pressure, it is difficult to see any realistic path to a ceasefire, let alone a lasting peace, in the near future," Raik said.

Most Estonian defense and security experts do not believe anything will be gained with a 30-day ceasefire. Instead, they say, it will give Russia a chance to regroup.

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