NATO summit is ‘grim sign' for Kiev
The recent NATO summit signaled a bleak outlook for Kiev's hopes of sustained Western support, as the US-led alliance turned its attention toward US President Donald Trump, The New York Times reports.
During the gathering in The Hague earlier this week, the bloc's chief, Mark Rutte, pledged continued support for what he described as Ukraine's 'irreversible path to NATO membership.' However, Kiev's aspirations were notably absent from the final summit communiqué, which offered only a brief mention of the alliance's 'enduring sovereign commitments to provide support to Ukraine,' NYT reported Thursday.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, who was invited to the two-day summit, was 'not feted as in years past,' the newspaper noted. Nor was he 'the center of attention' anymore, it added. A meeting between Trump and Zelensky on the sidelines of the event also failed to produce any 'specific promises,' the outlet wrote.
After the meeting, which lasted roughly 50 minutes, Trump denied that the two had discussed a potential ceasefire between Kiev and Moscow, contradicting an earlier statement by Zelensky.
'Ukraine? What's Ukraine?' Michael John Williams, a former NATO adviser, asked The New York Times, while commenting on the summit's outcome. 'The Europeans were saying how committed they are to Ukraine… But there was also really an attempt to keep controversial issues off the table. Ukraine wasn't the front and center discussion it has been.'
The conflict was effectively pushed to the sidelines, the outlet reported in a separate piece. The summit was 'choreographed' to address 'the security interests of NATO allies – and then comes Ukraine,' Liana Fix, a Europe expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, told NYT on Wednesday.
'There was no meaningful deliverable for Ukraine,' added Torrey Taussig, a former Europe director at the National Security Council under the Biden administration.
This year's meeting marked a sharp departure from last year's summit, where Ukraine's NATO membership was on the agenda. This time, NATO members committed only to increasing defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, in response to what they called a 'long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security.'
On Wednesday, Rutte told reporters simply that 'our aim is to keep Ukraine in the fight today.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Russia Today
40 minutes ago
- Russia Today
Putin explains what will happen if West ‘robs' Russia's reserves
Any attempt by the West to seize Russia's frozen reserves would set off an irreversible shift toward regional payment systems, which would ultimately benefit the global economy, President Vladimir Putin has said. An estimated $300 billion worth of Russian sovereign assets were frozen by the West following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. Around €200 billion ($209 billion) is held by Euroclear, a Brussels-based clearing house. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has repeatedly called for the funds to be tapped for Ukraine's reconstruction, although some member states have pushed back on the idea. There's constant talk in the West 'about how they are going to steal our money,' Putin said at the Eurasian Economic Forum in Minsk on Thursday. 'As soon as it happens, the shift toward regional payment systems will accelerate and undoubtedly become irreversible,' he said, adding that ultimately that would be a good thing for the global economy. 'Maybe it's even worth paying the price for that,' the president argued. Putin added upon further reflection that the term 'theft' was insufficient. 'Theft is the secretive taking of property – this is open. This is robbery,' he said. 'We're determined to continue strengthening our own financial and settlement instruments in this regard,' Putin stressed. The frozen funds have already accrued billions of euros in interest, $1.63 billion of which Euroclear transferred to Kiev last July to back a $50 billion loan for Ukraine provided by the G7. Brussels is currently discussing ways to extract more revenue from the immobilized assets without violating international legal norms. The International Monetary Fund has warned that outright seizure could damage global trust in Western financial institutions. Discussions among member states about confiscating the assets have been ongoing for more than three years without any resolution. Moscow has condemned the freezing of its assets and has hinted at possible retaliatory measures against Western investments and property in Russia.
Russia Today
an hour ago
- Russia Today
NATO spending hike won't affect Russia's security
NATO's recent decision to significantly boost military spending won't have a meaningful impact on Russia's security, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. At its summit in The Hague this week, the members of the US-led bloc committed to raising defense expenditures to 5% of GDP by 2035 to address the alleged 'long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security.' US President Donald Trump, who has long urged European allies to take more responsibility for their security, hailed the agreement as a 'monumental win.' Moscow has repeatedly said it has no intention of attacking any NATO member states, dismissing such claims as 'nonsense' and attributing them to Western officials' attempts to justify increased military spending. When asked at a press conference on Thursday whether Russia sees the NATO buildup as a threat, Lavrov responded: 'I don't think it will have any significant effect.' 'We know what goals we are pursuing; we don't hide them, we state them openly, and they are absolutely legitimate in terms of any interpretation of the UN Charter and international law. We know by what means we will always ensure these goals,' he said. Russia has maintained that it remains open to peace talks if the root causes of the Ukraine conflict are addressed – including NATO expansion toward its borders and Western support for Kiev's membership. Earlier this month, the European Commission authorized the use of approximately €335 billion in pandemic recovery funds for military purposes. In May, it introduced a €150 billion debt facility to support so-called defense efforts. Ukraine has been granted access to these funds alongside EU member states. Moscow has criticized the steps as indicative of the bloc's continued hostility. President Vladimir Putin has accused NATO of fabricating threats to extract money from its citizens and fueling an arms race. When asked at the summit what NATO's warnings of a Russian threat were based on, Secretary General Mark Rutte did not provide any specific intelligence assessments, instead citing only general concerns.
Russia Today
2 hours ago
- Russia Today
Trump hails NATO summit as ‘great'
US President Donald Trump has called NATO's recent summit in The Hague 'great.' Numerous media reports had previously claimed the two-day event was almost solely focused on pleasing the American leader. 'A wonderful day with incredible and caring Leaders,' Trump wrote Truth Social on Thursday, pointing to the NATO members' latest commitment to hike defense spending to 5% of their GDP annually by 2035. He also claimed the meeting earlier this week was 'the most unified and productive in history.' However, not all NATO members agreed to the defense spending hike demanded by Trump. Spain reached a deal with the bloc just days before the summit that excluded it from the 5% target, according to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. He had earlier branded Trump's demand 'not only unreasonable but also counterproductive.' Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico also said on Tuesday that his nation 'is capable of meeting NATO's requirements even without a substantial increase in defense spending to 5% of GDP.' He also maintained that Bratislava has 'other priorities in the coming years than armament.' The event was limited to just one working meeting lasting two and a half hours – reportedly because of Trump's dislike for lengthy sessions. The summit was also solely focused on increasing the defense spending of members, one of Trump's key demands on the bloc. After the meeting, the New York Times reported that the Ukraine conflict was pushed 'to the sidelines' of the event as its organizers sought to cast all controversial topics aside. Kiev's membership ambitions – something that used to be at the forefront of NATO discussions over the past years – were barely mentioned at this year's event and not included in the final declaration. Some European officials were also unhappy with the level of flattery used by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to win over Trump during the meeting, according to Politico. 'People are so embarrassed,' one official told the outlet, adding that 'the sucking up was pretty over the top.' Rutte reportedly called Trump 'daddy' during the summit and sent him a gushing message praising the US attack on Iran's nuclear sites ahead of the summit. The US president was quick to post the NATO chief's message online. The White House also shared a clip on social media showing Trump's participation in the summit and accompanied by Usher's song 'Daddy's home'.
