Monitoring Desk
On Wednesday (25 June 2025), NATO concluded a historic Summit in The Hague. Allies reached a decision to invest 5% of GDP in defence – laying the foundation for a strong, united NATO in the years to come, and reaffirming their continued support to Ukraine.
Leaders came together for a series of events around the NATO Summit in The Hague on 24-25 June.
On Tuesday, the Secretary General spoke at the NATO Public Forum – a conference that lasted two days and provided in-person and online audiences with an opportunity to dive into the decisions being made at the Summit, as well as other topics on which NATO is engaged. NATO also hosted a Summit Defence Industry Forum on the 24th that brought together political and military leaders, as well as industry, to advance efforts to boost defence industrial production across the Alliance.
On Tuesday evening, the Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima hosted a social dinner for the leaders gathered for the Summit at the historic Huis ten Bosch. In parallel, NATO Defence Ministers held a working dinner, as did NATO Foreign Ministers who met, along with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, for a working dinner of the NATO-Ukraine Council.
At the formal session of NATO Heads of State and Government on Wednesday, Allied leaders adopted a summit declaration that set a new benchmark for defence investment, underlined the importance of ramping up defence industrial production, and affirmed continued support for Ukraine. With The Hague Defence Investment Plan outlined in the statement, Allies commit to investing 5% of GDP in defence – including 3.5% of GDP on core defence requirements and 1.5% on defence- and security-related investments like infrastructure and industry. This marks a major uplift from the previous benchmark of 2% of GDP.
“Together, Allies have laid the foundations for a stronger, fairer, more lethal NATO,” the Secretary General stated in a closing press conference. “These decisions will have a profound impact on our ability to do what NATO was founded to do – deter and defend.” Highlighting the challenges to Allied security, the Secretary General underscored, “whether from Russia or terrorism, cyberattacks, sabotage or strategic competition – this Alliance is and will remain ready, willing and able to defend every inch of Allied territory,” explaining that the new pledge would “ensure that our one billion people can continue to live in freedom and security.”
There were also a number of additional meetings held at the NATO Summit including a meeting of the NATO Secretary General, the President of Ukraine, and the Presidents of the European Council and European Commission; a meeting of the NATO Secretary General, the President of Ukraine, the President of France, the German Chancellor, and the Prime Ministers of Italy, Poland, and the United Kingdom; and a meeting between the NATO Secretary General and NATO’s Indo-Pacific partners.
The next NATO Summit is planned for 2026 in Türkiye.
Trump Zelensky Meet again but like the Same !
Kim Barker writes in New York Times that it was yet another grim sign for Ukraine.
Russia’s invasion of the country, the main topic of recent NATO summits, seemed to slide down the list of priorities at this year’s annual meeting, which ended on Wednesday. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine was not feted as in years past. He was not even the center of attention.
Instead, President Trump took main stage at The Hague, where the summit was held. Mr. Trump has made no secret of his disdain for NATO, his desire for members to stop relying too heavily on U.S. military support and his admiration of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
The summit’s official declaration mentioned nothing about Ukraine joining the alliance, a longstanding point of discussion. A meeting between Mr. Zelensky and Mr. Trump yielded no specific promises about peace talks, although Mr. Trump said it was possible that the United States would send more Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine.
The two leaders met for 50 minutes; it was their second meeting since their disastrous encounter at the White House in late February, when Mr. Trump publicly berated the Ukrainian president. Mr. Zelensky said the talks were “long and meaningful” and thanked Mr. Trump. The U.S. president said Mr. Zelensky “couldn’t have been nicer,” but added that they did not discuss a cease-fire.
