--- title: "Zelenskyy and Rutte in Brussels: Air Defense Priorities and Invitation to Ankara Summit" description: "In Brussels, Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Main topics: obtaining US licenses for air defense production, replenishing the PURL fund, and an invitation to the summit in Ankara. πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦πŸ€πŸ‡³πŸ‡¦" date: 2026-06-17T21:50:00.000Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/zelenskyy-and-rutte-in-brussels-air-defense-priorities-and-summit-in-ankara-en tags: [] publisher: "XAB.info" --- # Zelenskyy and Rutte in Brussels: Air Defense Priorities and Invitation to Ankara Summit ![Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte during a meeting in Brussels to discuss air defense and the Ankara summit invitation](https://xab.info/media/2026/06/17/zelen-skij-i-ryutte-v-brusselye-prioritety-pvo-i-sammit-v-ankare/zelen-skij-i-ryutte-v-brusselye-prioritety-pvo-i-sammit-v-ankare-1.webp) An important bilateral meeting took place in Brussels between the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte. The dialogue between the leaders focused on key aspects of security and the future strategy of supporting Ukraine. The central item on the agenda was the discussion of measures to strengthen Ukraine's air defense system. ### US Licenses and Defense Strengthening During the conversation, the parties detailed the issues agreed upon with international partners within the framework of the recent G7 summit. As Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted, the main priority remains working on strengthening the country's defense capabilities. Special attention was paid to obtaining licenses from the United States that would allow for the organization of air defense equipment production directly on Ukrainian territory. ### PURL Mechanism and Delivery Speed An important aspect of the negotiations was the discussion of replenishing the PURL (Pooling and Risk Sharing for Ukraine) mechanism with new contributions. The head of the Ukrainian state emphasized the critical importance of this program for protecting the civilian population. Zelenskyy focused on the need for the most rapid delivery of anti-ballistic missiles, which directly affects the effectiveness of life protection. ### NATO Summit in Ankara Separately, Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Mark Rutte for the official invitation to participate in the upcoming NATO summit. The event is scheduled for next month and will take place in Ankara. The Ukrainian leader expressed confidence that the work on the results of the meeting would be aimed at achieving concrete results for the protection of Ukraine, and thanked the Secretary General of the alliance for constant support. ### Context: G7 Summit Results The meeting in Brussels continued the diplomatic activity started on June 16, when Volodymyr Zelenskyy participated in the G7 session. US President Donald Trump was also present at the summit. As a result of the negotiations, the G7 countries published a joint statement, recording agreement on a number of issues concerning Ukraine. In particular, G7 participants agreed to increase the volume of air defense supplies, additional anti-aircraft systems, and interceptor missiles. A decision was also made to consider the issue of transferring licenses to Ukraine for the production of foreign weapons at local factories. In addition, the countries pledged to increase economic pressure on the Russian Federation.