Support for Ukraine will be clearly outlined in NATO summit declaration – Rutte
Photo: NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (Getty Images)
The NATO summit declaration in The Hague, which will take place at the end of June, will clearly outline military aid for Ukraine, states NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte during a press conference following the meeting of defense ministers of the Alliance member states in Brussels.
"The summit declaration is there when it is there. But I’ve already mentioned the headline items. The summit declaration will be focusing primarily on three big issues: spending, defense industriction, obviously, making sure that Ukraine has what it needs to stay in the fight to bring the conflict, this terrible war of aggression by Russians, to a durable and lasting peace," Rutte said.
At the same time, he noted that the Allies are still discussing and coordinating these issues.
“So, there’s no final version of the statement. And that’s fine, because the summit is in three weeks,” the NATO Secretary General added.
NATO summit in The Hague
The next NATO summit will take place in The Hague (Netherlands) on June 24–25. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also been invited to attend the meeting.
Earlier, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated that during the summit, Alliance member states will discuss military aid to Ukraine. Their goal is to ensure that Kyiv is in the best possible position to continue its fight against Russia and that any peace agreement following the end of hostilities will be sustainable.
According to Radio Free Europe, the summit will last two days instead of three. This decision is reportedly linked to concerns within the Alliance about a potential new scandal involving US President Donald Trump.
The outlet recalled the 2018 NATO summit in Brussels during Trump’s first term, where a video of a tense exchange with former Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg set the tone for the entire meeting. Trump, at the time, threatened to pull the US out of the military alliance altogether.
To avoid any grounds for conflict at the June summit, the event has been shortened from three days to two. The program has not yet been finalized, but it is expected that the first day will feature an official dinner, and the second day will include two working sessions — one focused on defense spending and the other on the development of the defense industry.
