Mark Rutte's latest press conference showed that he is in a really difficult position as NATO Secretary General, as he has to avoid causing any friction in his relationship with the easily irritable White House—and US President Donald Trump’s policies are not making it easy, reports The Guardian.

Rutte has repeatedly tried to avoid questions on Trump’s tariffs, Russia policy, or US plans to take control over Greenland.

According to the author of the article, Jakub Krupa, if Rutte were to give his honest answer, it’s probably safe to assume he would have to distance himself from the US president and risk their relationship, with consequences for the alliance and Europe’s security, so he chooses to sidestep them instead.

He even kind of hinted at that when he said “I don’t think I’m helping this alliance by commenting on something which is not really part of Alliance policy,” which sounded to me like “you know what you think, and you know exactly why I can’t say that.”

“But there is no escaping from the fact that it does not look great and could lead to some frustration between European allies, as we have seen with Denmark’s reported annoyance at him for sidestepping Trump’s comments on Greenland during his White House visit,” the article concludes.