Zelensky tries new formal look for crunch meeting with Trump at Nato as Don says war leader ‘couldn't have been nicer'
VOLODYMYR Zelensky swapped his signature battlefield khakis for a slick black suit today – just in time for a high-stakes huddle with Donald Trump at the Nato summit.
Both leaders were snapped in
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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky ditches his khakis for a sharp black suit at the Nato summit in The Hague
Credit: Splash
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Zelensky shows Donald Trump battlefield updates as the pair meet for crunch talks on Ukraine's future
Credit: AFP
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Trump previously criticised the Ukrainian leader for his attire at their fiery Oval Office showdown
Credit: AFP
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Both presidents hailed their meeting as positive
Credit: EPA
The outfit change didn't go unnoticed – especially after Trump
This time, the Ukrainian leader went full statesman mode in head-to-toe black, looking ready for diplomacy as he pushed for American air defence systems and co-production of drones.
Writing on X, Zelensky said: 'We discussed the protection of our people with the President — first and foremost, the purchase of American air defense systems to shield our cities, our people, churches, and infrastructure.'
'Ukraine is ready to buy this equipment and support American weapons manufacturers. Europe can help.'
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He added: 'Putin is definitely not winning. I presented the President with the facts about what is really happening on the ground.'
Trump, meanwhile, described their meeting as a roaring success.
At a press conference following the Nato summit, he said it 'couldn't be nicer' and praised Zelensky for 'fighting a brave battle'.
He also claimed Zelensky 'wants a ceasefire' and hinted at personally speaking with Vladimir Putin to end the war, though he admitted the Russian leader has been 'more difficult' than expected.
Most read in The US Sun
The face-to-face came on the sidelines of what's being dubbed
'Daddy' Trump stopped Israel and Iran war, Nato chief tells 'strong' Don
'The bombing of Iran has reasserted US military power and showed the strength of America,' Trump said.
He also hailed Nato's new five per cent GDP defence spending pledge as 'historic', branding it a 'monumental win for the US' and a 'big win for civilisation'.
As leaders gathered under the Nato and Ukrainian flags, Trump even joked about being called 'Daddy' by Dutch PM and Nato chief Mark Rutte, saying: 'He's very affectionate. 'Daddy, you're my daddy'.'
While Trump's diplomatic style was as brash as ever, Zelensky struck a more sombre tone, speaking of fallen soldiers and forensic efforts to identify Russian bodies handed back to Ukraine.
'I also informed the President about how the technical team's meetings in Istanbul went, as well as the exchanges of prisoners and the fallen,' Zelensky said.
Elsewhere at the summit, Trump said the US may make Patriot missile systems available to Ukraine to help defend against nightly drone and rocket attacks by Russian forces.
The advanced anti-air batteries could be a major game-changer on the battlefield, if approved.
He also touched on fears of future aggression by the Kremlin, saying it was 'possible' Putin harbours ambitions beyond Ukraine, in response to a question about US intelligence assessments.
The Hague event has seen Trump bask in praise for helping bring a halt to the recent 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran, with even his critics calling it a major moment of statesmanship.
'Israel fought a hell of a war, they fought very hard,' he said. 'Both were satisfied to go home and get out.'
Zelensky's meeting with Trump followed talks with the prime ministers of Denmark and New Zealand.
The Ukrainian leader continues to push Western allies for weapons, funding, and diplomatic muscle as Kyiv braces for a fresh Russian offensive.
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From left: Keir Starmer, Giorgia Meloni, Volodymyr Zelensky, Mark Rutte, Emmanuel Macron, Donald Tusk and Friedrich Merz pose at the Nato summit
Credit: AFP
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RTÉ News
2 hours ago
- RTÉ News
NATO summit commits to higher spending and mutual defence
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The Irish Sun
3 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Britain's migrant crisis being fuelled by Putin's Russia and other hostile states in secret plot to destabilise UK
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Thousands of Some have since been charged with national security offences, A top security source told The Sun: 'Hostile states and malign actors are using illegal migration to test borders, cause disruption and destabilise countries like Britain. Sun probe uncovers asylum seekers in hotels linked to string of rape cases 'That's exactly why Nato is now treating border protection as a core part of collective defence — because the lines between traditional military threats and national security are more blurred than ever.' Most read in The Sun Opposition MPs said our broken borders are being tested by hostile states while ministers sit on their hands. 'The news that hostile states are weaponising illegal migration shows that the Government has been negligent in failing to tackle the boat crisis. 'The way to stop it is to immediately remove illegal immigrants to a location outside Europe. 'But Labour scrapped the Rwanda deterrent before it even started and now record numbers are coming in.' Reform UK leader Nigel Farage added: 'I first warned this would happen in my European Parliament speeches over ten years ago. 'The crossings are a national security emergency.' Britain spends billions on border forces, coastal patrols and surveillance in the Channel. These can all now be logged as part of our Nato commitment. Senior officials say the move reflects how lines between military threats and criminal activity are being blurred by hostile regimes. Home Office insiders insist the UK is not blind to the growing risk from foreign interference in the Channel crisis. Countries such as Russia and Iran have long used underhand tactics to mess with the West — from cyber attacks and disinformation to stirring up migration. Security sources say Russia and its puppet-state And only last month, In March And Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto has accused the Kremlin-linked Wagner group of helping drive immigration from North Africa to Europe, calling it a 'clear strategy of hybrid warfare'. 6 This year, 18,000 migrants have crossed on dinghies Credit: Reuters Yesterday PM The pledge covers 3.5 per cent for hard defence, like troops and weapons, and 1.5 per cent on wider security, which includes infrastructure, energy security and border protection. Security Minister Dan Jarvis said: 'National security is the first duty of any government — and that means securing our borders. 'We are improving our ability to monitor and anticipate illegal migration flows at both national and international levels, including investing in new state-of-the-art surveillance technology. 'Our Border Security Command is drawing together security operations around our border. 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Oglo, who arrived in the UK last year and lives in asylum housing at the former RAF Weathersfield, appeared at City of London magistrates' court on Monday, aided by an Arabic interpreter. He told the court: 'Back home, it is normal to climb over fences.' He was convicted of trespass and fined £100. Arsonist 6 Zaidan Hossan Taha did not like the conditions of the home he was placed in — so set it alight Credit: SWNS MIGRANT Zaidan Hossan Taha did not like the conditions of the home he was placed in — so set it alight. The 24-year-old, from Kurdish Iraq, was moved into a Leeds bedsit but was unhappy his food was being stolen. In April he was arrested after threatening to start a blaze there but was released. A month later, he set fire to a blanket in the kitchen and threw it on a sofa before leaving the property. It failed to take hold, but caused smoke damage. Taha was arrested and later spat in an officer's face. 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Irish Daily Star
3 hours ago
- Irish Daily Star
NATO's 'grotesque gesture at glorified baby' Trump covers up alarming threat
There are many indignities a NATO Secretary General might endure in the name of diplomacy - backroom compromises, bruising negotiations, and the occasional awkward photo op with despots in suits. But calling Donald Trump 'daddy' isn't one of them. At least, it never was until Mark Rutte arrived. The former Dutch prime minister and now NATO's top official referred to Trump as 'daddy' - a grotesque, grovelling gesture that might have raised eyebrows in a diplomatic dispatch but instead exploded into public farce during a high-stakes summit of alliance leaders. 'Sometimes daddy has to use strong words,' Rutte beamed, defending Trump's crude outburst in front of reporters, where the president shouted, 'They don't know what the f--- they're doing,' in reference to the Iran-Israel ceasefire fiasco he claims to have masterminded. It comes as new dementia fears were raised about Donald Trump after viewers spotted a mysterious clue in his suit . Read More Related Articles Lip reader reveals world leaders' brutal 6-letter gossip about Trump Read More Related Articles Donald Trump branded 'dumbest President ever' after six-word comment about Congo Forget diplomacy. Forget leadership. NATO, under Rutte, has started to resemble a glorified babysitting service for a toddler with nuclear launch codes. It would be laughable if it weren't so dangerous. Rutte's nauseating sycophancy is not just a personal humiliation, it's a strategic collapse. Trump posing with other world leaders (Image: AFP via Getty Images) At a moment when the alliance should be asserting its independence and clarity of mission, it has instead wrapped itself around Trump's ego like a silk cravat on a noose. Gone is the guarded caution of past NATO heads. In its place, we now have something akin to Joseph Goebbels writing fan mail to Hitler - an image that feels uncomfortably close when you read the actual text message Rutte sent to Trump, which the president gleefully published. 'Congratulations and thank you for your decisive action in Iran,' Rutte wrote, referring to Trump's unilateral bombing campaign. 'That was truly extraordinary, and something no one else dared to do. It makes us all safer.' It doesn't. And Rutte surely knows that. The strikes were condemned as reckless and 'unwise and unnecessary' by senior officials, who warned they could provoke the very conflict they were supposedly meant to deter. Trump's claim to have held the Israel-Iran ceasefire together lasted barely 24 hours. Rutte's message, meanwhile, read less like praise and more like erotic fiction. 'You are flying into another big success in The Hague this evening… Donald, you have driven us to a really, really important moment… You will achieve something NO American president in decades could get done.' Who knew the nuclear deterrence strategy of the West hinged on breathless love notes? What makes Rutte's behaviour particularly grotesque is the sheer hypocrisy of it. As Dutch prime minister, he consistently failed to meet NATO's defence spending target of two per cent of gross domestic product. Now, in his desperate quest to stay in Trump's favour, he's bragging about getting European leaders to commit to a staggering five per cent of GDP on defence - a militaristic fantasy straight from Trump's own wet dreams. Rutte has gone from pragmatic European liberal to a kind of grinning courtier, performing loyalty rituals for an emperor with no clothes. President Donald Trump seemed to get red-faced (Image: Getty Images) He's not the only one, of course. NATO leaders have spent the latest summit tiptoeing around Trump like terrified interns trying not to spill coffee on a tantrum-prone CEO. The summit was stripped down to three hours. The official communique was slashed to a single page. Not to streamline diplomacy, but to avoid provoking Trump into one of his trademark rage exits. It would be comical if the stakes weren't existential. The alliance was forged to deter tyranny, defend liberal democracy, and confront authoritarianism. Under Rutte, it is flirting with all three. The Secretary General's job is to unify 31 nations in a common cause, not whisper sweet nothings to a man who once threatened to pull America out of the alliance entirely. What kind of message does this send to allies? To Russia? To Iran? To China? That NATO no longer leads, it follows - not strategy, not principle, but personality. And that the only way to hold the West together is to soothe the tantrums of a man who treats global diplomacy like reality TV. We can't afford this. NATO is not Mar-a-Lago with fighter jets. Its credibility is fragile, its mission vital, and its unity under threat from within. Mark Rutte was supposed to bring experience and backbone to the role. Instead, he's turned NATO into a stage for Trump's delusions. While porn star Stormy Daniels may have once called Trump 'daddy', Rutte's humiliation came without even taking off his clothes.
