Russia’s invasion has dominated previous meetings, but keeping President Trump happy was the focus at the gathering this week. Ukraine was largely shunted to the sidelines.
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.
“Ukraine? What’s Ukraine?” quipped Michael John Williams, a former adviser to NATO and now a professor of international relations at Syracuse University who attended the summit. “The Europeans were saying how committed they are to Ukraine, especially the British, which is no surprise. But there was also really an attempt to keep controversial issues off the table. Ukraine wasn’t the front and center discussion it has been.”
Everyone at the two-day meeting seemed to be trying to please Mr. Trump. Mr. Zelensky even wore a black suit jacket to meet with him, a rare abandonment of his military-style outfit — a fashion choice that has stuck in the craw of Mr. Trump and his allies in the past.
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.
