NATO summit in The Hague shortened, Zelenskyy’s attendance still in question
Photo: NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and US President Donald Trump (Getty Images)
The NATO summit to be held in June in The Hague will be held on a shortened program. It may be a test for Mark Rutte as Secretary General, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports.
According to the news agency, Mark Rutte is likely to need all his diplomatic skills to ensure the success of the summit. In particular, it is about satisfying US President Donald Trump.
In particular, back in 2018 NATO summit in Brussels during Trump's first presidential term, a video of a tense argument with former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg set the tone for the entire meeting. At the same time, Trump threatened to completely withdraw the United States from the military organization.
According to media reports, the summit has been shortened from three days to two to avoid excessive conflict among the Allies. The program has not yet been approved, but the first day will likely include an official dinner, and the second day will include two working sessions: one will focus on defense spending and the other on defense industry development.
As several European allies have expressed interest in purchasing defense products from Japan and South Korea, the latter session is likely to be attended by NATO's four Indo-Pacific partners - Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been a guest of honor at previous NATO summits. Although there is no confirmation of his invitation, most NATO representatives believe that he will come.
However, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsakhkna has previously stated that denying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a visit would be a serious strategic mistake because it would be the only topic that the media would write about after the meeting. However, if Zelenskyy does come, likely, a separate meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council will not be organized for him, as was the case during the previous two summits.
NATO summit in The Hague
In early May, Der Spiegel wrote that Trump might ignore the NATO summit. We wrote about what might be the reason. At the same time, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said that Trump had confirmed that he planned to attend the June NATO summit in The Hague.
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that during the NATO summit in The Hague, the member states plan to discuss military assistance to Ukraine.
They want to make sure that Kyiv is in the best position to continue the fight against Russia, and that the peace agreement after the end of hostilities will be long-lasting.
Reportedly, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been invited to participate in the NATO summit to be held in The Hague on June 24.
