The narrowed focus of the upcoming NATO summit in The Hague — which will have only a single session devoted to defense spending — is designed to appease U.S. President Donald Trump, Politico reported on June 21, citing European defense officials.

NATO leaders will convene in The Hague June 24-25 to discuss raising the alliance's defense spending target to 5% of the GDP — a proposal the U.S. has championed but from whcih it considers itself exempt.

"(Trump) has to get credit for the 5% — that's why we're having the summit," one unnamed European defense official told Politico.

"Everything else is being streamlined to minimize risk."

The organizers of the summit have shortened the meeting from the typical two-day schedule to 24 hours in the hopes of keeping the focus on Trump and deliver a victory to the U.S. president. Trump plans to give an speech at the end of the summit celebrating the new spending benchmark and his own contributions to the pledge.

There will be no meeting of NATO's Ukraine council at the summit.

The European Council confirmed on June 20 that President Volodymyr Zelensky will attend the summit in The Hague, despite media reports that Zelensky was considering skipping the event altogether. The reports followed Zelensky's disappointing venture at the G7 summit in Canada.

While Zelensky hoped to reset relations with the U.S. in a third face-to-face meeting with Trump, he never got the chance. Trump abruptly left the G7 summit, claiming he had to focus on the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran.

The Ukraine council's absence from the upcoming summit represents another concession to Trump, whose attention has shifted to the Middle East and who continues to refuse to impose sanctions on Russia.

Trump has also been unable to fulfill his promises to end the war in Ukraine. Six months of U.S. peacekeeping efforts under the Trump administration have brought a ceasefire no closer, as Russia escalates attacks and the civilian death toll climbs.

Convening NATO's Ukraine council could draw attention to Trump's ongoing failure, Politico reported.

"The priority is really to announce success in The Hague," a European official said. "The longer-term perspective is less important."

Trump's "America First" doctrine has repeatedly cast doubt on Washington's commitment to transatlantic alliances, especially NATO. In recent years, Trump has alarmed member states by questioning whether the U.S. should defend alliance members that do not meet military spending benchmarks.

Trump has also signaled that the U.S. will no longer be Ukraine's main ally in its defense against Russia and has called on European countries to shoulder the burden of supporting Ukraine.

While NATO summits in recent years have focused heavily on Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine, this year's joint communique may exclude references to the war altogether. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on June 9 admitted that the language may not be included in the statement, but insisted the alliance remained committed to Ukraine's future membership.

"The irreversible path of Ukraine into NATO is there, and it is my assumption that it is still there after the summit," Rutte said. "Whether it is again in the communique or not, I think that's not relevant, because all the language we previously agreed on is there — until we decide it is no longer there."

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The Kyiv IndependentLinda Hourani

President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to attend a NATO summit in The Hague next week, the European Council confirmed on June 20.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte are set to meet Zelensky on June 24.

Zelensky was reportedly reconsidering attending the NATO summit, as questions remain over U.S. President Donald Trump's participation, the Guardian reported on June 17, citing unnamed Ukrainian officials.

A schedule released by the European Council on June 20 confirms Zelensky's planned participation at the event.

A Ukrainian official told the Guardian that Kyiv is in a "permanent hazard" of becoming a victim of "Trump's short attention span," adding that Russia has exploited this uncertainty with fresh aerial attacks.

There were "all sorts of promises for this summit," including U.S. arms, the source said.

Zelensky was scheduled to meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the Group of Seven (G7) Summit, held June 15-17.

Trump left the multilateral event early due to the renewed conflict between Israel and Iran.

Zelensky met with various leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Zelensky left the summit early, citing Russia's mass drone and missile attack on Kyiv.

On June 17, a Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv killed 30 people and injured another 172. The nearly nine-hour-long strike saw Moscow's forces launch large numbers of drones and missiles at Ukraine's capital.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha condemned the attack, describing it as a "massive and brutal strike" timed deliberately to coincide with the G7 summit.

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The Kyiv IndependentKollen Post

An invitation for Ukraine to become a member of NATO "is not on the agenda" of the upcoming summit in The Hague, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said in an interview with the Baltic News Service published on June 18.

"This issue is certainly not on the NATO agenda and nobody has formulated an expectation that there will be an invitation in The Hague, nor have we heard that from the Ukrainians themselves," Budrys said in comments quoted by the LRT broadcaster.

"There is no such expectation that there will be breakthrough decisions, neither before the Washington summit nor now before the Hague summit – it is not on the agenda."

The comments, coming less than a week before the summit, hint at a shifting rhetoric within the alliance regarding Ukraine's potential membership after U.S. President Donald Trump took office.

The new Trump administration has spoken out against Kyiv's accession, and the U.S. president even echoed the false Russian narratives that its efforts to join NATO helped instigate Russia's full-scale invasion.

Unlike during the previous summits, the final communique may reportedly completely omit the topic of Ukraine's membership, as NATO members seek to avoid a conflict with Trump. The gathering was also preceded by rumors that Ukraine may not be invited due to U.S. opposition, but the invitation was extended in the end.

In spite of these tensions, Budrys said that the summit should keep its focus on Ukraine, stressing that the war-torn country is part of the Euro-Atlantic security space.

Ukraine applied for NATO membership in September 2022, months after the outbreak of the full-scale Russian invasion. The alliance has signaled support for Kyiv's accession efforts in previous years, even declaring at the Washington summit in 2024 that Ukraine's path to membership is "irreversible" — but stopping short of a formal invite.

Kyiv's swift entry seems increasingly unlikely amid opposition from the U.S. and several other members, even though NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte recently reaffirmed that a political commitment to Ukraine's membership stands. Ukraine would need support from all 32 members to join.

It remains uncertain whether The Hague summit will lead to any breakthroughs regarding Ukraine. Following signals that U.S. President Donald Trump may not attend the event, the Guardian reported that President Volodymyr Zelensky may skip the summit as well.

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The Kyiv IndependentYuliia Taradiuk

President Volodymyr Zelensky may reconsider attending the NATO summit in The Hague, as questions remain over U.S. President Donald Trump's participation, the Guardian reported on June 17, citing unnamed Ukrainian officials.

According to the Guardian, some in Kyiv are unsure if Zelensky's presence at the June 24-25 summit would be worthwhile without a confirmed meeting with Trump, whom they had hoped to engage directly in efforts to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin into accepting a ceasefire.

Earlier, Zelensky had traveled to the G7 summit in Canada, hoping to meet one-on-one with Trump and push for stronger sanctions against Russia. Trump left the summit early, citing the crisis in the Middle East, and no bilateral meeting or joint G7 statement took place.

One official told the Guardian that Ukraine is in a "permanent hazard" of becoming a victim of "Trump's short attention span," adding that Russia has exploited this uncertainty by fresh aerial attacks. The source added that there had been "all sorts of promises for this summit," including U.S. arms.

The Russian attack on Ukraine that occurred during the G7 summit killed at least 24 civilians and injured 134 in Kyiv. Trump has not responded to the attack as of the day after.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has reportedly said Trump had previously promised to attend the NATO gathering, though no official confirmation has been issued from Washington.

Despite the setback, Zelensky said the G7 meeting had concrete results for Ukraine. In a Telegram post on June 17, he thanked partners for increased military aid, new sanctions on Russia, and the decision to allocate frozen Russian assets for Ukraine’s reconstruction.

"It is important that our partners are ready not only to support our defense now, but also to rebuild Ukraine together after the war ends," he said.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a support package that includes 2 billion Canadian dollars ($1.5 billion) in military assistance and another $1.6 billion in reconstruction loans. The aid includes drones, armored vehicles, ammunition, and sanctions to disrupt Russia's energy revenues.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer also unveiled new sanctions targeting Russia's military-industrial complex and 20 oil tankers from Russia's "shadow fleet."

Zelensky later told G7 leaders that "diplomacy is now in a state of crisis" and called on allies to press Trump to "use his real influence" to help end the war.

Ukraine has been invited to the NATO summit, and Zelensky previously called the invitation "important" during a June 2 press briefing. At the time, he did not confirm whether he would attend in person.

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The Kyiv IndependentAnna Fratsyvir

President Volodymyr Zelensky on June 13 appointed Aliona Hetmanchuk as the head of Ukraine's mission to NATO, replacing Nataliia Halibarenko.

The appointment came "at a critical time for the future of Ukraine, for the future of NATO itself, and, of course, for Ukraine's future in NATO. I realize the responsibility," Hetmanchuk said on her Facebook page on June 13.

"As for this moment, we will be fully immersed in preparations for the summit in The Hague," she added, referring to the upcoming NATO summit that will take place in the Netherlands on June 24 and 25, with Ukraine participating.

Hetmanchuk is a leading Ukrainian foreign policy expert with a background in journalism. She is the founder and director of the New Europe Center and a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center.

Previously, Hetmanchuk co-founded and directed the Institute of World Policy and has advised the Presidential Consultation Committee between Ukraine and Poland since 2016.

Ukraine applied for alliance membership in September 2022, several months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion. While NATO has repeatedly affirmed that Kyiv will eventually join, it has yet to extend a formal invitation.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on June 9 that the political commitment to Ukraine's future membership in NATO remains unchanged, even if it is not explicitly mentioned in the final communique of the upcoming summit in The Hague.

"The irreversible path of Ukraine into NATO is there, and it is my assumption that it is still there after the summit," Rutte said at Chatham House in London.

Rutte's comments follow reporting that this year's summit communique, set for release after the June 24–25 meeting, may exclude references to Ukraine. This would mark a notable departure from previous gatherings, where Kyiv's future in NATO took center stage.

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The Kyiv IndependentAnna Fratsyvir