NYT: Zelenskyy may be invited to a parallel forum instead of NATO summit

It remains unclear whether Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be invited to the NATO summit in The Hague this June, but the Ukrainian president is likely to attend a defence industry forum being organised by NATO in parallel with the summit.

The New York Times confirms earlier media reports that the June summit will be significantly shortened to avoid potential conflicts with US President Donald Trump.

Ukraine's role at the summit remains undefined, in part due to Trump's dismissive stance towards Zelenskyy. It is still unclear whether the Ukrainian president will receive an invitation to attend the summit.

"I fully expect Zelensky to be at The Hague. In what capacity, we’re discussing," said Matthew Whitaker, the new US Ambassador to NATO, at a conference earlier this month in Tallinn.

Officials have suggested that this year’s summit may not feature a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council, which in previous years has brought allies and Ukraine together as equals.

Sources noted that after the opening-night dinner, NATO leaders are expected to meet only for a few hours the following day to ratify new spending targets.

At the same time, NATO is planning a parallel defence industry forum, which Zelenskyy may attend.

Under US President Joe Biden, Zelenskyy played a prominent role at the past two NATO summits. However, the current US president has openly opposed Ukraine’s NATO membership and has repeatedly criticised Zelenskyy, even engaging in public disputes with him.

The Dutch defence minister, whose country is hosting the June summit, recently stated that the Netherlands is looking for ways to include President Zelenskyy in the summit programme in The Hague.

It has also emerged that due to Trump’s position, NATO is preparing a shortened summit declaration – likely without mentioning Ukraine.