NATO member states are “firmly on track” to meet a pledge of 40 billion euros in military aid to Ukraine by 2024, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said today, distancing himself from the “win plan” that presented earlier today by President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Rutte said at a press conference that Alliance members have so far collected about half of the promised funding.

“I am pleased to report that we are firmly on track to deliver the 40 billion euros we pledged for next year,” the NATO chief stressed, adding: “I can announce today that NATO allies have allocated 20.9 billion €100 million in military aid to Ukraine in the first half of 2024 and Allies are on track to meet their commitments for the rest of the year».

At the same time, he emphasized that the new NATO mission in Ukraine in the German city of Wiesbaden will be in “full operational” readiness in the coming months.

Earlier today, Zelensky revealed in a speech to Parliament his “plan for victory” in the war with Russia, and among other things he ruled out ceding territory to Russia to end the war.

Rutte emphasized that the “victory plan” presented by the Ukrainian leader is a good sign, but he stressed that he is not in a position to support this plan in its entirety as things stand.

“It is of course a strong message from Zelensky and his team that they have drawn up this plan… This does not mean that here I can say that I support the plan as a whole, that would be a bit difficult because there are many issues that we need to understand better,” he declared.

As he said, this Ukrainian “victory plan” will be on the agenda at the NATO ministerial meeting that starts tomorrow Thursday in Brussels. “It will be on the table (…) when the NATO/Ukraine summit takes place on Thursday night,” the new NATO chief said.

Citing an excerpt from Zelensky’s speech that Ukrainian intelligence services had confirmed North Korea’s supply of weapons and personnel to Russia, Rutte said NATO could not confirm reports that North Koreans were fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, but noted that these reports are alarming.

He reiterated the position that the process of Ukraine becoming a future member of the Alliance is ‘irreversible’ and that Ukraine is closer to NATO than ever.