Zagreb, 4 April 2025 (Hina/MIA) - Trade disputes between NATO members and tariffs imposed by the United States are not a violation of the North Atlantic Treaty, and these issues should be considered separately, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Friday.

"I think these are two different issues, we need to keep them separate and not mix them in our discussions," Rutte said after a two-day meeting of NATO foreign ministers.

Rutte added that the announced US tariffs did not contradict the North Atlantic Treaty.

"There have been numerous different views and customs disputes before, and even then, there was no violation of Article 2 of the North Atlantic Treaty," Rutte said.

Article 2 of the treaty establishing NATO states that member states "will seek to eliminate conflict in their international economic policies and will encourage economic collaboration between any or all of them".

The meeting of NATO foreign ministers took place under the shadow of a decision by the US administration to impose tariffs on imports from around the world, including from allied countries.

The main topics of the meeting were preparations for the coming NATO summit at the end of June in The Hague, the push to increase defense spending advocated by the United States, and continued support for Ukraine.

Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said after the meeting that the atmosphere had been good and that it was confirmed that NATO remains a credible political and military alliance.

The new US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attended the meeting for the first time.

"The United States and the new administration have brought a new dynamic among the allies," said Grlić Radman.

NATO Secretary General Rutte confirmed at the final press conference the alliance's earlier decision that Ukraine was on an irreversible path toward NATO, but that it had never been promised that NATO membership would be part of a peace agreement.

US President Donald Trump, who had initiated talks with Russia and Ukraine about a ceasefire, said at the beginning that Ukraine's NATO membership was off the table.

When asked if a deadline should be set for Russia to respond to the ceasefire proposal, Rutte said that "the ball is now in Russia's court."

"The US administration and President Trump have moved things forward, they have started talks. Now the ball is in Russia's court," said Rutte, adding that he did not want to interfere in those talks.

He said he was "impressed" by the way the Americans were conducting the talks and the fact that they regularly updated Ukrainians and European allies about what they were doing.

Ukraine has accepted the proposal for an unconditional ceasefire, while Russia continues to impose new conditions.