Decision to invite Zelenskyy to NATO summit not up to the US – Dutch Foreign Ministry
Photo: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will decide on the invitation for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the NATO summit in The Hague, says Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp at a briefing of NATO foreign ministers in Antalya.
“I will be very happy to host President Zelenskyy and Ukrainian delegation in The Hague. It is of course not to me as a host country, it's a Secretary General of NATO who will decide on what the invitation should be,” the head of the ministry said.
He added that the upcoming summit will be one of the most important in the modern history of the Alliance. The participants of the meeting will discuss increasing defense spending in the first place.
“I think one of the most important NATO summits in the recent history of NATO,” he said.
NATO summit in The Hague
The next NATO summit will be held in The Hague on June 24-25, 2024. According to media reports, the United States allegedly opposes Zelenskyy being invited to the summit. As of today, four Asian partners of the Alliance have received invitations: Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.
The media said that the agenda of the meeting is likely to be very brief to avoid tension with President Donald Trump.
