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Sybiha: Putin Failed to Drive Diplomats Out of Kyiv as NATO’s 32 Allies Visit Ukraine

Sybiha said the full North Atlantic Council visited Kyiv on Thursday despite Russia’s recent threats and escalating missile attacks. Discussions focused on securing additional Patriot air defense systems, expanding European funding for US weapons purchases, and preparing concrete Ukraine-related out

Kyiv Post

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4 июня 2026 г.

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Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Thursday, June 4, said that Russia had failed in its efforts to intimidate foreign diplomats and force them to leave Kyiv, as senior representatives from all 32 NATO member states visited the Ukrainian capital alongside NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte.

“Putin tried to intimidate foreign diplomats and drive them out of Kyiv. But he failed,” Sybiha wrote on X.

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“Instead, the entire NATO North Atlantic Council visited Kyiv today – 32 senior diplomats representing every NATO ally, led by our true friend, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.”

The visit comes amid intensified Russian missile and drone attacks as well as repeated warnings from Moscow directed at foreign diplomatic missions operating in Ukraine.

According to Sybiha, President Volodymyr Zelensky and Rutte co-chaired a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council and held separate bilateral talks.

The foreign minister also hosted NATO representatives at Kyiv’s Saint Sophia Cathedral, describing the site as a symbol of Ukraine’s statehood and historical continuity.

“This cathedral is more than 1,000 years old. It symbolizes the continuity of our statehood and our history that Russia tries to steal but will not succeed,” Sybiha said.

Patriot systems remain top priority

Sybiha said discussions focused primarily on strengthening Ukraine’s air defenses against Russia’s growing use of ballistic missiles.

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‘You Will Be Left to Suffer and Die’: Rutte Warns Young Russians Against Fighting in Ukraine

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte issued a stark appeal to young Russians not to fight in the war in Ukraine, saying they will be sent to the front with poor training, bad equipment and a high chance of being killed, wounded or abandoned. He backed his warning with NATO estimates that Russia is losing more than 30,000 soldiers a month – more in a single month than the Soviet Union lost during its entire 10-year war in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

“Tactically, this means securing additional Patriot systems and PAC-3 interceptor missiles,” he said.

“At present, this is the only system in the world capable of reliably countering this threat.”

He added that Ukraine and its allies are also discussing a broader European anti-ballistic missile defense architecture.

“Strategically, we are working on a European anti-ballistic protection. Ukraine is ready to contribute, but we need a joint effort to speed up results,” Sybiha said.

“For Europe, this is a matter of strategic security.”

The minister also said NATO allies discussed further contributions through the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), which allows European countries to finance purchases of American-made weapons for Ukraine.

According to Sybiha, Ukraine-NATO relations are gaining momentum ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara scheduled for July.

“Ukraine will be there,” he said, adding that Kyiv had presented several proposals that could become concrete outcomes of the summit.

Rutte returns to Kyiv amid intensified Russian attacks

Rutte arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday in an unannounced visit, underscoring NATO’s continued support for Ukraine.

The NATO chief’s visit came days after one of Russia’s largest aerial assaults of the year, involving 73 missiles and 656 drones, which killed 22 people across Ukraine, including two children, and wounded at least 130 others.

Rutte last visited Kyiv in February, when he addressed the Verkhovna Rada and stressed that any lasting peace would require both strong Ukrainian armed forces and credible long-term security guarantees backed by allies.

At the time, he said the United States, European countries and Canada were prepared to contribute to Ukraine’s future security architecture and noted that NATO could help implement security mechanisms immediately after any future peace agreement.

Before that, Rutte visited Ukraine in April 2025, meeting Zelensky in Odesa and visiting wounded Ukrainian servicemembers at a military hospital.