Rutte is afraid of scandal between Trump and Zelenskyy at NATO summit - The New York Times
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte wants the Alliance's summit in June to be short and sweet. Therefore, he is afraid of Volodymyr Zelenskyy's participation because of Donald Trump's presence there.
According to Censor.NET, The New York Times reports this with reference to European diplomats and officials.
The newspaper's sources note that it is still unknown whether Zelenskyy will be invited to the main dinner to mark the opening of the summit. The next day, leaders will meet for just a few hours to approve new defence spending targets. Zelenskyy may attend a parallel defence industry forum, but a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council may not take place this year.
The meeting of the leaders will take place against the backdrop of the US retreating from its role as the main guarantor of European security - White House officials have already informed European partners of imminent significant changes in the rotation of US troops. At the same time, Trump is reducing support for Ukraine, abandoning ceasefire initiatives, and demonstrating a desire to normalise relations with Russia:
"Given all that, Ukraine’s role in the summit is uncertain, not least because of Mr. Trump’s dismissiveness toward President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is also expected to attend," the article states.
Earlier, US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker assured the allies of Washington's continued commitment to the Alliance, the principle of collective defence and the nuclear defence of Europe. At the same time, he noted that a review of the deployment of US troops could lead to the withdrawal or redeployment of some of the 84,000 US troops stationed in Europe.
Torrey Taussig, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, says that uncertainty about the future presence of US troops in Europe will make it difficult for NATO to review its defence needs.
"Discussing new NATO capability targets without knowing what the U.S. position will be or what Ukraine will need and how it impacts those capabilities will risk creating a vacuum down the road," Taussig noted.
Military analyst Michael Kofman believes that it will be difficult for European countries to simultaneously fulfil NATO's commitments to strengthen their own defence and support Ukraine indefinitely. This will require certain compromises, he added.
Earlier, Euractiv reported, citing sources, that for the first time since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was not invited to participate in the main discussions of the NATO summit to be held in June to "please" US President Donald Trump.
For his part, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Washington did not oppose the invitation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the NATO summit in The Hague.
