NATO carefully plans Zelenskyy's Hague visit to avoid tension with Trump
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (facebook.com/zelenskyy.official)
Organizers of the NATO summit in The Hague are trying to plan the schedule in a way that avoids a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to Reuters.
According to the outlet, officials organizing the NATO summit in The Hague this month are expected to arrange the meetings in such a way that Volodymyr Zelenskyy can be present in the city without provoking Donald Trump.
The alliance is also reportedly planning to shorten the event and limit discussions related to Ukraine.
Anonymous sources cited by the outlet suggest that Zelenskyy may attend a pre-summit dinner hosted by the King of the Netherlands, but could skip the main meeting of the summit.
It remains unclear whether Russia will be explicitly named as a threat in the summit's brief final statement, or whether clear support for Ukraine will be expressed.
According to the sources, all of these limitations are being put in place to avoid provoking anger in Washington — and to prevent a repeat of the February incident between Trump and Zelenskyy at the White House, which nearly derailed the international coalition supporting Kyiv.
At the same time, one senior NATO diplomat acknowledged that if Zelenskyy does not participate in some form, it would be "at minimum a PR disaster."
NATO summit in The Hague
The NATO summit is scheduled to take place in The Hague, Netherlands, on June 24–25. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been invited to attend.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte earlier stated that alliance members would discuss military support for Ukraine during the summit, emphasizing the need to ensure that Kyiv is in the strongest possible position to continue resisting Russia — and that any peace agreement after the fighting ends will be lasting.
Radio Free Europe previously reported that the summit will last two days instead of three, amid concerns within the alliance over a potential new controversy involving US President Donald Trump.
The outlet recalled the 2018 NATO summit in Brussels during Trump's first term, when video of a tense exchange with former Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg set the tone for the meeting. At the time, Trump even threatened to withdraw the United States from the military alliance entirely.
Rutte has also stressed that the final summit declaration will clearly outline continued military support for Ukraine.
