Lack of leader-level meeting on Ukraine at NATO summit is concession to Trump – Politico

There will be no leader-level meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council at the Alliance’s summit in The Hague because the United States does not want to focus attention on the war in Ukraine.

Source: Politico, a Brussels-based politics and policy news organisation, citing unnamed sources

Quote: "There won’t be a meeting of NATO’s Ukraine council in The Hague. It’s another concession to the US, which, despite the urging of some allies to hold such a session, wasn’t interested in heightening the focus on the war that Trump has been unable to resolve as he promised during last year’s campaign."

Details: According to Politico, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has only been invited to a formal dinner on Tuesday and is not expected to take part in key meetings.

Politico's sources said there would be no leader-level meeting on Ukraine, as the official NATO summit programme indicates that the NATO-Ukraine Council working dinner on 24 June will be held at foreign minister level and presided over by NATO’s deputy secretary general.

Sources told Politico there is only one major outcome that Trump wants from next week's NATO leaders' summit: increased defence spending.

The 32 countries of the Alliance will pledge to significantly increase defence spending to 5% of GDP: 3.5% for hard military needs and 1.5% for broader defence efforts.

One administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, "There is no way they [the European countries – ed.] would be going to 5 per cent without Trump. So he sees this as a major win, and it is."

Trump plans to deliver a speech on Wednesday, at the end of the summit, to announce the new spending pledge and his key role in making it happen.

Background:

• On 21 June, Zelenskyy said he did not yet know whether he will attend the NATO summit in The Hague next week.
• Zelenskyy said he had received an invitation to the summit from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. A NATO official confirmed that "Ukraine will be with us in The Hague".

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