ANTALYA, TURKEY – Ukraine’s leadership has not been invited to join the main discussions at the upcoming NATO summit in June, internal sources told Euractiv, breaking with tradition established since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the country.
Most European leaders had expected a session between NATO members and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the summit, but their wish to keep US President Donald Trump happy and ensure the US leader smiles in the summit picture might have taken precedence.
The summit’s agenda currently features only one session on the agenda, which would involve discussion among only representatives of NATO’s 32 member countries, people involved told Euractiv under the condition of anonymity. The Italian news agency ANSA and Dutch outlet NOS also reported Ukraine’s exclusion from the agenda, citing their own unnamed sources.
The White House has expressed reservation about dedicating a full agenda point to the Ukrainian president, according to one of the people involved.
Zelenskyy has joined each of the past three annual NATO summits. He attended virtually in Madrid in 2022 and then joined in person in both Vilnius in 2023 and in Washington in 2024.
Last year, the leaders’ meeting featured a session of the NATO-Ukraine council format, and came after months of debates over Ukraine’s hopes for membership in the alliance.
Two people said the goal of this Summit is to show unity within the alliance. Bringing in Ukraine could create tensions, especially with Trump, who has been attempting to hold peace talks with Russia and has come out forcefully against NATO membership for Ukraine in the near future.
Extending an invitation to Zelenskyy for a full-standing discussion might only highlight those issues, they said. Plus, one person added it is highly unlikely there will be any progress toward Ukraine joining NATO ahead of the June summit.
NATO’s Secretary-General Mark Rutte declined to comment on whether Ukraine would be invited, telling reporters in Antalya on Thursday only that the agenda “is still under discussion”.
Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp, whose country is hosting the June summit, said that Rutte is the one in charge of extending invitations.
“Ukraine will be joining in one form or another,” a fourth person commented. According to that person, Kyiv’s delegation will likely be invited to join social events around the summit on the same level as other partners to the Alliance, including the informal leaders’ dinner which traditionally opens the summit.
Those social events usually include regular invitees such as Australia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Japan and South Korea.
Side meetings expected in June include a defence industry forum, high-level gatherings of NATO defence and foreign ministers, as well as a slate of public events including conferences, panels and networking gatherings.
(bts)