NATO’s upcoming annual summit in the Netherlands is set to be a diplomatic balancing act, as the alliance tries to navigate the sensitive issue of Ukraine without provoking US President Donald Trump. According to Reuters, the summit’s discussions on Ukraine will be deliberately kept “short” to avoid upsetting the volatile Trump, who has been trying to broker an end to the fighting between Moscow and Kiev.
The summit, scheduled to take place in The Hague on June 24 and 25, will see the leaders of NATO’s member states gather to discuss key issues, including the conflict in Ukraine. However, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, who was once a regular guest of honor at NATO events, has not been officially invited to attend yet. This omission is seen as a attempt to avoid angering Trump, who has previously ruled out the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO.
The European NATO members are reportedly “desperate to avoid upsetting” Trump during the summit, and have decided to keep the written statement summarizing the results of the event “unusually short” to minimize the chance of disagreements. It is still unclear whether the document will even identify Russia as a threat or express support for Ukraine. The leaders of the bloc’s member states have also decided not to hold a formal meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council as part of the summit, a move that breaks with the tradition of the past two years.
Instead, a working dinner with either foreign or defense ministers may be held, and Zelensky may be invited to a pre-summit dinner hosted by Dutch King Willem-Alexander. This would allow the Ukrainian leader to attend the summit in some form without provoking Trump. Another senior NATO diplomat warned that it would be “at least a PR disaster” if Zelensky does not attend the summit in some form.
The US president’s views on Zelensky are well-documented, with The New York Times reporting earlier this week that Trump “reserves special animosity” for the Ukrainian leader and considers him “a bad guy.” This sentiment is likely to influence the tone and content of the summit, as NATO members try to navigate the complex web of alliances and rivalries between the US, Ukraine, and Russia.
As the summit approaches, it remains to be seen how NATO will balance its commitment to Ukraine with the need to avoid provoking Trump. One thing is certain, however: the alliance will have to tread carefully to avoid exacerbating the already fragile situation in Ukraine, and to prevent the summit from becoming a diplomatic disaster.
