Zelenskiy warns NATO allies before Hague summit of Russia threat
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks to the press with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (not pictured), on the sidelines of a NATO summit, in The Hague, Netherlands June 24, 2025. REUTERS/Claudia Greco/Pool REFILE - CORRECTING EVENT FROM "A BILATERAL MEETING" TO "SPEAK TO THE PRESS".
THE HAGUE (Reuters) -President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned European NATO members on Tuesday that they risked being attacked by Russia if it was not defeated in Ukraine, urging them to heed U.S. calls to sign off a big new spending goal for the alliance at a summit.
The two-day gathering is intended to signal to Russian President Vladimir Putin that NATO is united, despite U.S. President Donald Trump's past criticism, and determined to expand and upgrade its defences to deter any attack from Moscow.
"Russia is even planning new military operations on NATO territory – meaning your countries," Zelenskiy told a defence industry event on the sidelines of the summit, hours after Russian missiles killed at least 11 people in southeast Ukraine.
"No doubt we must stop Putin now, and in Ukraine, but we have to understand that his objectives reach beyond Ukraine. European countries need to increase defence spending."
NATO'S RUTTE HAILS TRUMP'S 'DECISIVE ACTION IN IRAN'
Trump, en route to the summit in the Netherlands, posted a screenshot of a message from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte congratulating him on his "decisive action in Iran" and getting all NATO allies to agree to spend at least 5% of their GDP on defence.
"Europe is going to pay in a BIG way as they should, and it will be your win," the message read.
Trump was pressed by travelling reporters to say whether he remained committed to mutual defence among allies as set out by NATO's Article 5, and responded:
"I'm committed to saving lives. I'm committed to life and safety. And I'm going to give you an exact definition when I get there."
Trump is expected to meet Zelenskiy for talks during the summit. Zelenskiy has said he wants to discuss substantial purchases of weaponry including Patriot missile defence systems as well as sanctions and other ways to put pressure on Putin.
In The Hague, Zelenskiy said it was essential that Ukraine lead in drone technology, which has shaped the battlefield and developed at breathtaking pace in the 40 months the war has lasted so far.
Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister, underlined the need for transatlantic cooperation in the defence industry.
"Today, NATO's military edge is being aggressively challenged by a rapidly rearming Russia, backed by Chinese technology and armed with Iranian and North Korean weapons," he said.
"Only Europe and North America together can rise up to meet the challenge of rearmament."
RUSSIA CRITICISES NATO'S SPENDING BOOST
The Kremlin accused NATO of being on a path of rampant militarisation and portraying Russia as a "fiend of hell" in order to justify its big increase in defence spending.
The summit and its final statement will be focused on heeding Trump's call to spend 5% of GDP on defence - a significant jump from the current 2% goal. It is to be achieved both by spending more on military items and by including broader security-related spending in the new target.
Russia has cited its neighbour's desire to join the U.S.-led transatlantic defence pact as one of the reasons why it invaded Ukraine in 2022.
NATO was founded by 12 Western countries in 1949 to resist the threat from the communist Soviet Union.
Russia denies any plan to attack the alliance, which now boasts 32 members, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was "largely a wasted effort" to assure the grouping of this because it was determined to demonise Russia.
"It is an alliance created for confrontation ... It is not an instrument of peace and stability," he said.
(Additional reporting by Lili Bayer and , Bart Meijer in The Hague; Writing by Keith Weir; Editing by Dominique Vidalon and Kevin Liffey)
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