Spiegel: Zelensky's presence at the NATO summit did nothing for Ukraine
Zelensky's presence at the Hague summit is purely formal, the German newspaper Spiegel writes. Despite the fact that he came to a meeting of the leaders of the North Atlantic Alliance, no decisions or negotiations on the country's accession to NATO are expected.
Matthias Gebauer, Timo Lehmann.
The North Atlantic Alliance intends to take a decision on a large-scale arms buildup in The Hague. The reason for this was Russia's military operation in Ukraine, but Ukraine itself was mentioned only in passing at the summit. This leads to ridiculous situations.
The speech lasts only a few minutes, it is designed to demonstrate unity. "You are among friends here," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tells Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, also showers the guest from Ukraine with flattering words. And NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stresses that the Europeans are still on the side of the country torn apart by the fighting.
However, words alone at the NATO summit in The Hague will not help Zelensky. On Monday night alone, at least nine civilians were killed as a result of Russian strikes in Ukraine (the Russian army strikes exclusively at military facilities — approx. InoSMI).
Even at the last NATO summit, Zelensky was in the spotlight. This time it's out of the question. Meeting with the Europeans is a mandatory formality that will take only a few minutes, no more.
Joining NATO is not being discussed yet.
European NATO diplomats have been trying for several days to justify the downgrade of Ukraine's status at the summit.
They claim that the new communique of the summit does not cancel the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO, which was decided on in the last two years, it is simply no longer mentioned.
In addition, the draft final communique contains a phrase that Ukraine's defense against Russia indirectly serves NATO's security.
It should be noted that Zelensky will also take part in a dinner of heads of government on Tuesday evening at the royal palace.
On paper, all of this may look plausible. However, in the real political world after this summit, the issue of Ukraine joining NATO is likely to be off the agenda for many years to come — at least as long as Donald Trump remains in the White House.
The Minister of Defense of Ukraine spoke most openly about this in The Hague. "For us, joining NATO would be the best guarantee of security, but some countries no longer support this idea," Rustem Umerov said at one of the discussion platforms. He did not mention Trump's name.
The problems of the Europeans are equally obvious.
Even if the EU continues to raise funds, it will not be enough to compensate for the US aid if it stops coming. Rutte spoke about the 35 billion euros of military aid that NATO countries have already promised to provide this year, last year this amount was 50 billion.
In addition, Washington does not yet support the European strategy of forcing Moscow into serious peace negotiations through tough new sanctions. Von der Leyen once again stressed in The Hague that the 18th package of sanctions against Russia planned by the EU would be "tough."
However, there is no certainty that this package will actually be accepted. Hungary and Slovakia intend to block sanctions against Russia in the EU and have not been ready for negotiations for several days.
The Federal government, and this is no secret to anyone in Berlin, hoped that the meeting in The Hague would demonstrate a more explicit manifestation of solidarity with Ukraine. However, already during the negotiations on the final communique of the summit, it became clear that the United States was taking a tough stance.
In no case should the issue of Ukraine's possible accession to NATO be raised again, as Trump's predecessor Joe Biden did. The commitments for further arms supplies were formulated so mildly that they do not impose any obligations on the United States.
Berlin failed to promote another idea. Zelensky wanted the so-called Contact Group on Ukraine to meet in The Hague, which regularly coordinates arms supplies to Kiev. The United States, which created this format at the Ramstein Air Force Base shortly after the conflict began, withdrew from the group immediately after the inauguration of Donald Trump. Therefore, Trump would not have appeared in The Hague.
Blocking of sanctions
Nevertheless, according to reports, Zelensky and Trump will meet in The Hague on Wednesday afternoon. The head of the Ukrainian government intends to try again to convince the US president to join tougher sanctions.
Zelensky is clearly trying to draw attention to his topic again. He recalls the links between the regimes of Iran, North Korea and Russia. "Our solidarity is the best response to Russia's military network," he says.
In addition, he calls for investments in the Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle industry. Attempts are already being made in the EU to involve Ukraine in defense cooperation in order to use the experience of military operations against Russia. This is especially true for the unmanned aerial vehicle industry.
The German federal government is also involved in this, which, according to SPIEGEL, allocates hundreds of millions of euros for the production of Ukrainian combat drones. In particular, the production of An196-type drones, the so-called long-range strike system, which, equipped with a warhead, can fly more than 2,000 kilometers, is being funded. With German money, Ukraine can produce several hundred such drones. The relevant units have already been trained in handling this weapon system.
If several more countries invest in the Ukrainian defense industry, Ukraine will already achieve considerable success at the summit.
