NYT: NATO chief fears Trump's, Zelenskyy's presence could disrupt Alliance's upcoming Hague summit

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte fears that the organisation's summit in June could be disrupted due to the rift between US President Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to European officials and diplomats.

The head of NATO wants the alliance’s annual summit meeting next month to be short and sweet to prevent the kind of open disunity over Ukraine that marred the gathering two years ago, Caliber.Az reports, citing The New York Times.

However, the presence of Trump is at odds with European allies regarding the future of Ukraine, which could complicate Rutte’s plans.

At the same time, Trump is winding down support for Ukraine, has abandoned efforts to reach a cease-fire in the war and seeks to normalise relations with Russia.

Given all that, Ukraine’s role in the summit is uncertain, not least because of Trump’s dismissiveness toward President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is also expected to attend.

It is not even clear that Mr. Zelenskyy will be invited to the main opening dinner.

Officials suggested that this summit will not include a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council. Some indicated that after the dinner on the first evening, NATO leaders will meet for only a few hours the next day, to ratify new spending goals that can help European allies replace the United States over time as the prime guarantor of the continent’s conventional defence.

Earlier, Rutte proposed a compromise likely to be backed at the summit: that allies agree to spend 3.5 per cent of their economic output on hard military power and another 1.5 per cent on what he has termed “military-related” expenses by 2032. Those expenses can include items or categories that NATO has not traditionally deemed as spending on security, such as upgrades to roads or bridges that could be used to transport troops or equipment.

The Alliance's chief also said that agreement on the new spending goal, which replaces the old one of 2 per cent of economic output on the military, will be the centrepiece of this year’s summit meeting.

The 2025 NATO summit in The Hague, set for June 24-25 in the Netherlands, comes as the United States is retreating from maintaining primary responsibility to protect Europe, creating significant uncertainty about the continent’s security. 

By Khagan Isayev