The NATO summit, which began after the Dutch king hosted a dinner for the alliance members, has been trying to keep US President Donald Trump happy, knowing that he might deal a death blow to the seventy-year alliance. The bloc has been approaching the summit with due caution over the inconsistent behaviour of the president of the world's largest military and economic power.
NATO’s worries typically arise from Donald Trump threatening to revoke security guarantees from the lower spending countries, including the bloc's most powerful country, Germany, followed by Spain and Italy, who have rejected Trump's demand of increasing defence spending to five per cent.
To give him a headline victory, NATO's 32 countries have thrashed out a compromise deal to dedicate 3.5 per cent to core military needs by 2035, and 1.5 per cent to broader security-related areas like cybersecurity and infrastructure.
"The summit will be historic," US NATO ambassador Matthew Whitaker said, adding that this summit is about the bloc’s credibility, as we are urging all members to step up the challenge and pay their fair share for transatlantic security."
Also read: Spain rejects NATO’s 5% defence target, cites economic strain
Even if the bloc manages to keep Trump happy with a little increase of 1.5 to 2 per cent in defence spending, there are high chances he might also ask the bloc to play their role in ending the Ukraine-Russia war going on since 2022.
Zelensky’s position has been downgraded this year; he has been disbanded from attending and addressing the bloc of 32 nations formally after his recent Oval Office spat with Trump and JD Vance.
The German and French leaders have also said in a message aimed at Trump that they would collectively press for a ceasefire in Ukraine and also mount pressure on Russia, "including through sanctions", while in The Hague.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon is also set to announce the results of a review of its global deployments later in the year. Additionally, the German foreign ministry has also asked the Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth, to provide a formal deadline regarding the withdrawal of US forces from the EU.
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