“Set Zelensky and the whole Ukraine issue aside, for fear of offending Trump.” That, according to The Telegraph, is the line NATO has settled on as its leaders gather in Ankara.
The paper reported that Zelensky will not deliver one of his stirring addresses to the room, as he has done in previous years. He is not expected at the main summit at all. He will be there as a guest.
Why the caution? The Telegraph pointed to two pressures on the alliance. Trump has said NATO is not giving him enough support, and he is withdrawing US troops from Europe. Then there is money. Several of Ukraine’s Central European allies are declining to pay for its war effort, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk used the day before the summit to urge Poland’s delegation to watch its words on any new financial aid for Kyiv.
News.by took up the story and went further. It said the real concern in the hall is keeping the White House leader calm, not hearing yet another request for arms. It also claimed Kyiv has quarrelled with Warsaw at the most inopportune time, and that the dispute is ruining the Ukrainian agenda.
Zelensky said what he wants out of the summit: a faster supply of interceptor missiles for air defense. The Telegraph said all of this is bad news for him, with warm feeling from Ukraine’s former closest friends now in short supply.
Sources
- Telegraph: Zelensky will not be allowed to speak at the NATO summit to avoid offending Trump.
- Media: Zelensky to be left out of NATO summit
