NATO Not Inviting Zelenskyy to Hague Summit, First Since Russian Invasion

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not been invited to attend the upcoming NATO summit in The Hague, marking the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 that he will be absent from a NATO summit, according to reports.

The decision, reportedly pushed by the United States, reflects growing concerns among NATO members about appeasing former U.S. President Donald Trump, who has been critical of alliance spending levels and Ukraine policy. Sources cited by Euractiv said that NATO allies, aligning with Washington's stance, agreed not to extend an invitation to Zelenskyy to avoid provoking Trump.

Since February 2022, Zelenskyy has attended every NATO summit—virtually in 2022 and in person in 2023 in Vilnius and 2024 in Washington. His absence from the upcoming summit would mark a shift in the alliance’s public engagement with Ukraine during wartime.

A report by ANSA noted that many NATO members were surprised by Washington’s position. “Almost all allies have expressed surprise,” ANSA said, citing diplomatic sources. A Dutch official told NOS that excluding Zelenskyy could lead to “a diplomatic disaster for the Netherlands that no speaker could justify.”

The summit, set to be hosted in The Hague, has reportedly been narrowed down to a single session focused on defense spending and alliance capabilities. Sources suggest this limited agenda is designed to avoid any controversial topics that could irritate Trump, who has repeatedly criticized NATO members for failing to meet the alliance’s 2% of GDP defense spending benchmark and has called for raising it to 5%.

An informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Antalya, Turkey, on May 14 may raise the issue, though no formal decisions are expected at that gathering.

According to Dutch sources quoted by NOS, the final decision on Zelenskyy’s participation has not been officially confirmed and could still be reversed, as the summit is about six weeks away.

NATO officials have not made any public statements confirming or denying the reports.