Zelenskyy may attend NATO forum in Hague: summit cut short due to Trump’s stance - NYT
It is not known whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will receive an official invitation to the June NATO summit in The Hague, but he is likely to take part in a parallel defence industry forum.
This was reported by The New York Times, Censor.NET informs.
The publication notes that the June NATO summit is planned to be held in a shortened format to avoid potential conflicts with US President Donald Trump.
There is no clear decision on Ukraine's presence at the summit. The new US Ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, said: "I fully expect Zelensky to be at The Hague. In what capacity, we’re discussing."
Officials also noted that there is likely to be no meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council this year, where Kyiv has previously met with the allies on an equal footing. After the first dinner, NATO leaders plan to hold only a brief meeting to approve new spending targets.
At the same time, NATO is organising a defence industry forum, which Zelenskyy is expected to attend.
As noted, Zelenskyy used to play an important role at NATO summits under Joe Biden's presidency. However, Donald Trump, who currently leads the United States, is known for his criticism of both Ukraine's membership in NATO and Zelenskyy himself.
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.
