Trump meets with Zelenskyy at NATO summit, says Ukraine war is ‘a mess’ for Putin
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Putin ‘is preparing for more war,’ GOP senator warns after meeting with Zelenskyy and Macron
Two U.S. senators say Putin is stalling at the peace table while preparing a new offensive. They say the next two weeks could shape the future of a war that has already smashed cities. They hope their firsthand findings will shift momentum in Washington and help bring a skeptical President Donald Trump on board. They are in Paris for talks with French President Macron, who they say is “100% aligned” with them on the war, they say. The senators say they hope the bipartisan support for Ukraine at least in the Senate may help shift the conversation.. The two senators spoke to The Associated Press in Paris after meeting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and touring neighborhoods shattered by what they called the worst Russian attacks since the full-scale invasion began. The pair are in France for talks on the Ukraine conflict, which are scheduled to resume Monday in Istanbul. The Russian president has yet to submit a serious proposal to peace talks, officials say, a delay both senators described as deliberate and dangerous.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal spoke to The Associated Press in Paris after meeting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and touring neighborhoods shattered by what they called the worst Russian bombardments since the full-scale invasion began.
In Paris for talks with French President Emmanuel Macron — who they say is “100% aligned” with them on the war — the senators warned the window to prevent a renewed assault is closing.
A sweeping U.S. sanctions bill could be the West’s last chance to choke off the Kremlin’s war economy, they said — adding that they hope their firsthand findings will shift momentum in Washington and help bring a skeptical President Donald Trump on board.
“What I learned on this trip was he’s preparing for more war,” Graham said of Putin. Blumenthal called the sanctions proposed in legislation “bone-crushing” and said it would place Russia’s economy “on a trade island.”
“It is crunch time for Putin and for the world because Russia is mounting a new offensive,” he said.
At the heart of their push is a bipartisan sanctions bill, backed by nearly the entire U.S. Senate but still facing uncertain odds in Washington. It would impose 500% tariffs on countries that continue buying Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports — targeting nations like China and India that account for roughly 70% of Russia’s energy trade and bankroll much of its war effort.
Graham called it “the most draconian bill I’ve ever seen in my life in the Senate.”
“The world has a lot of cards to play against Putin,” he said. “We’re going to hit China and India for propping up his war machine.”
Peace talks or stalling tactic?
With peace talks yielding little and Trump’s approach to Ukraine highly uncertain, Graham and Blumenthal have stepped into the breach — blunt emissaries on a lonely mission. Political opposites moving in lockstep, they’re crossing Europe, and the aisle, with the moral urgency of two men trying to forestall another Russian offensive before it’s too late.
Peace talks are scheduled to resume Monday in Istanbul. But Ukrainian officials say Moscow has yet to submit a serious proposal — a delay both senators described as deliberate and dangerous.
“Putin is playing President Trump,” Blumenthal said. “He’s taking him for a sucker.” The senator said Putin “is, in effect, stalling and stonewalling, prolonging the conversation so that he can mount this offensive and take control of more territory on the ground.”
READ MORE: Ukraine and Russia quickly end their latest round of direct peace talks in Istanbul
Graham added: “We saw credible evidence of a summer or early fall invasion, a new offensive by Putin. … He’s preparing for more war.”
Trump has yet to endorse the sanctions bill, telling reporters Friday: “I don’t know. I’ll have to see it.” Graham said the legislation was drafted in consultation with Trump’s advisers.
Graham backed the president’s diplomatic instincts but said, “By trying to engage Putin — by being friendly and enticing — it’s become painfully clear he’s not interested in ending this war.”
Blumenthal hoped the bipartisan support for Ukraine at least in the Senate — and the personal testimonies they plan to bring home to Congress and the Oval Office— may help shift the conversation.
“He needs to see and hear that message as well from us, from the American people,” he said of Putin.
A moral reckoning
In Kyiv, the senators said, the war’s human toll was impossible to ignore. Graham pointed to what Ukrainian officials and Yale researchers estimate are nearly 20,000 children forcibly deported to Russia — calling their return a matter of justice, not diplomacy.
Blumenthal described standing at mass grave sites in Bucha, where civilians were executed with shots to the head. The destruction, he said, and the stories of those who survived, made clear the stakes of delay. “Putin is a thug. He’s a murderer.”
Both said that failing to act now could pull the U.S. deeper into conflict later. If Putin isn’t stopped in Ukraine, Blumenthal said, NATO treaty obligations could one day compel American troops into battle.
They see resolve in Europe
After a one-hour meeting with Macron in Paris, both Graham, of South Carolina, and Blumenthal, of Connecticut, said they left convinced Europe was ready to toughen its stance.
“This visit has been a breakthrough moment because President Macron has shown moral clarity in his conversations with us,” Blumenthal said. “Today, he is 100% aligned with that message that we are taking back to Washington.”
Blumenthal pointed to the rare bipartisan unity behind the sanctions bill. “There are very few causes that will take 41 Republicans and 41 Democrats and put them on record on a single piece of legislation,” he said. “The cause of Ukraine is doing it.”
Ahead, Ukrainian military leaders are set to brief Congress and a sanctions vote could follow.
“President Trump said we’ll know in two weeks whether he’s being strung along,” Graham said. “There will be more evidence of that from Russia on Monday.”
Trump’s NATO visit far friendlier than tense meetings of his first term
U.S. President Donald Trump wrapped up participation in the annual NATO summit. Most NATO countries, except Spain, agreed to significantly increase their defense spending. “This is a monument, really, to victory, but it’s a monumental win for the United States,” Trump said at a closing news conference at The Hague. The president was offered — and accepted — the chance to sleep Tuesday night at Dutch king, and Rutte referred to Trump as “Daddy.’’ Trump said he’d have the country make up for it by paying higher tariffs to the U.S., as part of a trade deal.“They want a little bit of a free ride, but they’ll have to pay it back to us on trade,’ he said during the news conference. ‘I’ve been asking them to go up to 5% for a number of years,’ Trump said earlier in the day as he met with Mark Rutte.
After less than 24 hours on the ground in the Netherlands, the Republican president headed back to Washington having secured a major policy change he’s pushed for since 2017: Most NATO countries, except Spain, agreed to significantly increase their defense spending.
The president also affirmed his commitment to NATO’s mutual defense pledge on Wednesday, a day after he rattled the 32-nation alliance by sounding noncommittal about the pact.
He cast the defense spending vote as a “big win” for the United States and the world and said the boost will add more than $1 trillion annually to “our common defense.”
“This is a monument, really, to victory, but it’s a monumental win for the United States,” Trump said at a closing news conference at The Hague. “This is a big win for Europe and, actually, for Western civilization.”
WATCH: Trump defends U.S. strikes on Iran at NATO summit news conference
Before taking reporters’ questions, Trump sought to ease concerns by reaffirming that he abides by Article 5 of the NATO treaty, the mutual defense pact that treats an attack on one member as an attack on all. Asked to clarify his stance as he met with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, Trump said, “I stand with it. That’s why I’m here. If I didn’t stand with it, I wouldn’t be here.”
He had mused just a day earlier that whether he abides by the treaty “depends on your definition” of Article 5.
In a major achievement for Trump, the 32 leaders endorsed a final summit statement saying: “Allies commit to invest 5% of GDP annually on core defense requirements as well as defense- and security-related spending by 2035 to ensure our individual and collective obligations.”
“I’ve been asking them to go up to 5% for a number of years,” Trump said earlier in the day as he met with Mark Rutte, the alliance’s secretary-general.
Spain had already officially announced that it cannot meet the target, and others have voiced reservations, but the investment pledge includes a review of spending in 2029 to monitor progress and reassess the security threat posed by Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
Trump sounded peeved by Spain’s decision and said he’d have the country make up for it by paying higher tariffs to the United States as part of a trade deal.
“They want a little bit of a free ride, but they’ll have to pay it back to us on trade,” he said during the news conference.
But Spain belongs to the European Union, the world’s largest trading bloc, which negotiates trade deals on behalf of all 27 member countries. They are not meant to negotiate trade deals individually.
Trump’s turn at this year’s summit came eight years after his NATO debut in 2017, a gathering that was perhaps most remembered by his shove of Dusko Markovic, the prime minister of Montenegro, as the U.S. president jostled toward the front of the pack of world leaders during a NATO headquarters tour.
And he began the 2018 summit by questioning the value of the decades-old military alliance and accusing its members of not contributing enough money for their defense. In Brussels that year, Trump floated a 4% target of defense spending as a percentage of a country’s gross domestic product, a figure that seemed unthinkable at the time.
But the atmosphere around Trump this week seemed far chummier than in past years. The president was offered — and accepted — the chance to sleep Tuesday night at the Dutch king’s palace, and Rutte referred to Trump as “Daddy.”
The agreed-upon boost to defense spending follows years of Trump’s complaints that other countries weren’t paying their fair share as part of an alliance created as a bulwark against threats from the former Soviet Union. Most NATO countries appeared motivated to bolster their own defenses not just by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine but also, perhaps, to placate Trump.
As a candidate in 2016, Trump suggested that as president he would not necessarily heed the alliance’s mutual defense guarantees outlined in Article 5 of the NATO treaty. In March of this year, he expressed uncertainty that NATO would come to the United States’ defense if needed, though the alliance did just that after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
“There’s numerous definitions of Article 5. You know that, right?” Trump said Tuesday on Air Force One on his way to The Hague. “But I’m committed to being their friends.”
New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, who traveled to The Hague and met with several foreign leaders at the summit, said other countries raised “understandable questions” about the U.S. commitment to the alliance, “certainly given President Trump’s past statements.”
Also hanging over this year’s summit was the Israel-Iran war and the recent U.S. strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities. After Trump arrived in the Netherlands on Tuesday, The Associated Press and other news outlets reported that a U.S. intelligence report suggested in an early assessment that Iran’s nuclear program had been set back only a few months by weekend strikes and was not “completely and fully obliterated,” as Trump had said.
But on Wednesday morning, Trump and other senior Cabinet officials vigorously pushed back on the assessment, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the administration was launching an investigation into who disclosed those findings to reporters.
“That hit ended the war,” Trump said. Drawing comparisons to the atomic bombings from the U.S. during World War II, he added: “I don’t want to use an example of Hiroshima. I don’t want to use an example of Nagasaki. But that was essentially the same thing. That ended that war.”
Trump held several one-on-one meetings with counterparts on Wednesday, including Schoof; Geert Wilders, the lawmaker known as the Dutch Donald Trump; and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The White House did not allow press coverage of the nearly hourlong sit-down with Zelenskyy. Trump said afterward that they had a “good meeting.”
Superville reported from Washington.
Trump meets Zelenskyy and says higher Nato spending may deter future aggression
Nato members agreed to raise their spending targets by 2035 to 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) annually on core defence requirements. Trump also reiterated his belief that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to end the war in Ukraine that began with Moscow’s invasion in February 2022. Trump left open the possibility of sending Kyiv more US-made Patriot air defence missile systems. The US has routinely pressed for allies to provide air defence systems to Ukraine. But many are reluctant to give up the high-tech systems, particularly countries in Eastern Europe that also feel threatened by Russia. Trump administration has blocked Ukraine”s bid to join Nato. The meeting was their first face-to-face session since April when they met at St Peter’S Basilica during Pope Francis’‘ funeral.” We appreciate the attention and the readiness to help bring peace closer,” Zelenskyy said in a social media post. “We discussed how to achieve a ceasefire and a real peace. We spoke about how to protect our people.
Nato members agreed to raise their spending targets by 2035 to 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) annually on core defence requirements as well as defence- and security-related spending.
That target had been 2% of GDP.
“Europe stepping up to take more responsibility for security will help prevent future disasters like the horrible situation with Russia and Ukraine,” Trump said at the summit-ending news conference shortly after meeting with Zelenskyy.
“And hopefully we’re going to get that solved.”
The US president also reiterated his belief that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to end the war in Ukraine that began with Moscow’s invasion in February 2022.
“He’d like to get out of this thing. It’s a mess for him,” Trump said.
“He called the other day, and he said, ‘Can I help you with Iran?’ I said, ‘No, you can help me with Russia’.”
Trump’s meeting with Zelenskyy was their first face-to-face session since April when they met at St Peter’s Basilica during Pope Francis’s funeral.
Trump also had a major confrontation with Zelenskyy earlier this year at the White House.
Zelenskyy, in a social media post, said The Hague talks were substantive and he thanked Trump for the US assistance.
“We discussed how to achieve a ceasefire and a real peace. We spoke about how to protect our people. We appreciate the attention and the readiness to help bring peace closer,” Zelenskyy added.
Trump left open the possibility of sending Kyiv more US-made Patriot air defence missile systems.
Donald Trump gestures during a press conference after the plenary session at the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo
Asked by a Ukrainian reporter, who said that her husband was a Ukrainian soldier, Trump acknowledged that sending more Patriots would help the Ukrainian cause.
“They do want to have the antimissile missiles, OK, as they call them, the Patriots,” Trump said.
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“And we’re going to see if we can make some available. We need them, too. We’re supplying them to Israel, and, they’re very effective, 100% effective. Hard to believe how effective. They do want that more than any other thing.”
Over the course of the war, the US has routinely pressed for allies to provide air defence systems to Ukraine.
But many are reluctant to give up the high-tech systems, particularly countries in Eastern Europe that also feel threatened by Russia.
Trump laid into the US media throughout his news conference but showed unusual warmth towards the Ukrainian reporter.
“That’s a very good question,” Trump said about the query about Patriots.
“And I wish you a lot of luck. I mean, I can see it’s very upsetting to you. So say hello to your husband.”
Ukraine has been front and centre at recent Nato summits.
But as the alliance’s latest annual meeting of leaders opened in the Netherlands, Zelenskyy was not in the room.
The Trump administration has blocked Ukraine’s bid to join Nato.
The conflict with Russia has laid waste to Ukrainian towns and killed thousands of civilians.
Just last week, Russia launched one of the biggest drone attacks of the war.
During Trump’s 2024 campaign for the White House, the Republican pledged a quick end to the war.
He saw it as a costly conflict that, he claimed, would not have happened had he won re-election in 2020.
Since taking office in January, he has struggled to find a resolution to the conflict and has shown frustration with both Putin and Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy spent Tuesday in The Hague shuttling from meeting to meeting.
He got a pledge from summit host the Netherlands for military aid, including new drones and radars to help knock out Russian drones.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that the United Kingdom will provide 350 air defence missiles to Ukraine, funded by £70 million raised from the interest on seized Russian assets.
Donald Trump update: US President’s message to Putin after ‘productive’ meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy before Pope Francis’ funeral
US President Donald Trump met with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the heart of the Vatican minutes before the start of the funeral of Pope Francis. Saturday marked the first face-to-face encounter between Trump and Zelenskiy since a disastrous White House meeting in February. The White House has since mounted an increasingly urgent push to strike a peace deal in Ukraine. The meeting occurred just outside the Baptistry Chapel, which is inside St. Peter’s Basilica near its entrance, and the talk hadn’t been telegraphed in advance. Trump raised the prospect of applying new sanctions on Russia after its assault on Kyiv last week, questioning whether Putin is interested in peace. The US has been applying more pressure on Ukraine after threatening last week that it could walk from the talks “within days” if it becomes clear a deal cannot be reached. The two leaders “met privately today and had a very productive discussion,” a White House spokesman accompanying Trump said. Trump exchanged pleasantries with other leaders who have been working on parallel efforts to help resolve the Ukraine war.
Saturday marked the first face-to-face encounter between Trump and Zelenskyy since a disastrous White House meeting in February , when the president and other US officials publicly berated Zelenskyy for being insufficiently grateful for US support and briefly suspended arms shipments and intelligence sharing.
The White House has since mounted an increasingly urgent push to strike a peace deal in Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in St Peter’s Basilica on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office)
Photographs released by the Ukrainian presidency showed the two leaders huddled in close discussion without aides in the ornate surroundings of St. Peter’s Basilica.
Zelenskyy thanked Trump for the “good meeting” in a post on social media.
“We discussed a lot one on one. Hoping for results on everything we covered,” Zelenskyy wrote. “Protecting lives of our people.
“Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out. Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results.”
A White House spokesman accompanying Trump said that the two leaders “met privately today and had a very productive discussion.”
Officials from both Zelenskyy’s camp and Trump’s said the meeting lasted for about 15 minutes, and the leaders agreed to continue talks.
In a Truth Social post sent as he returned from Rome after the meeting, Trump raised the prospect of applying new sanctions on Russia after its assault on Kyiv last week, questioning whether Putin is interested in peace.
French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer meet with US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. (Ukrainian Presidency)
“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” Trump wrote. “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
How the pope’s funeral format allowed for Trump-Zelenskyy talk
The meeting occurred just outside the Baptistry Chapel, which is inside St. Peter’s Basilica near its entrance, and the talk hadn’t been telegraphed in advance.
Ahead of the US president’s brief visit to Rome, officials had downplayed the prospect he would meet with Zelenskyy or any other world leaders, pointing to the truncated time frame for the trip and its solemn purpose of memorializing the late pope.
Trump had originally selected Saudi Arabia for his first stop abroad of his new term and will visit there next month.
But when Francis died those plans changed, and instead Trump made his first foreign stop in Europe, a continent he’s railed against frequently.
Trump arrived at the Vatican with his wife, first lady Melania Trump, and was seated in the front row, not far from French President Emmanuel Macron, for the outdoor service. (Getty)
The seating chart and crush of fellow leaders made brief interactions possible, including with leaders Trump had seemingly been avoiding since taking office.
He engaged briefly with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, with whom he hadn’t spoken at all since returning to office amid trade and defense disputes with the European Union.
The seating protocol — arranged alphabetically by country name in French — dictated Trump’s position alongside the Estonian and Finnish leaders, with whom he interacted briefly.
In other cases, Trump exchanged pleasantries with other leaders who have been working on parallel efforts to help resolve the Ukraine war.
He shook hands with French President Emmanuel Macron during the funeral mass’s sign of the peace (Ukraine’s Foreign Minister also posted a photo of Macron and Zelenskyy meeting on Saturday).
Zelenskyy’s arrival in the square was greeted with loud applause. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
US involvement in talks
The US has been applying more pressure on Ukraine after threatening last week it could walk away from the talks “within days” if it becomes clear a deal cannot be reached.
Trump said on Friday that Russia and Ukraine are “very close to a deal” that would end the conflict, which Russia launched in 2014 and escalated with its full-scale invasion of its neighbor in 2022.
The president’s special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin for three hours on Friday, according to Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, who said the talks were “constructive and very useful”.
Before leaving Kyiv for Rome on Friday, Zelenskyy suggested a number of compromises with the goal of advancing peace talks.
“In the coming days, very significant meetings may take place — meetings that should bring us closer to silence for Ukraine,” he said.
Who are the contenders to be the next pope? View Gallery
“We are ready for dialogue, I emphasise again, in any format with anyone,” he said, but “only after a real signal that Russia is ready to end the war. Such a signal is a complete and unconditional ceasefire.”
Kyiv and Moscow have not met directly since the early weeks of Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of its smaller neighbour. Any direct talks would likely require further discussion and add delay to the diplomacy the Trump administration has hoped will yield results in a matter of days.
Accepting that Ukraine would not join NATO in the foreseeable future, Zelenskyy said: “I think we have to be pragmatic. We have to understand what security guarantees Ukraine needs.”
Zelenskyy said those guarantees might include a military contingent from Europe and what he called a “backstop” from the United States.
“For us, the backstop does not necessarily have to be boots on the ground in Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said, but could include cyber defence “and above all Patriot air defence systems.”
On Thursday, Kyiv was hit by the largest wave of Russian missile strikes since July last year. Twelve people were killed.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron, Finland President Alexander Stubb, and US President Donald Trump attend the funeral of Pope Francis in St Peter’s Square. (Getty)
‘Ukraine Deal Framework’ still faces hurdles
Zelenskyy also spoke Friday of what he called “constructive” proposals drawn up in London this week between Ukrainian and European officials.
A copy of those proposals was obtained by Reuters. Titled “Ukraine Deal Framework”, it proposes a full and unconditional ceasefire in the sky, on land and at sea, as Ukraine has previously agreed to.
Monitoring of the ceasefire would be led by the US and supported by third countries, according to the draft obtained by Reuters. CNN has confirmed its contents.
The draft proposed Ukraine would receive “robust security guarantees including from the US… while there is no consensus among Allies on NATO membership.” Those would be similar to those in NATO’s Article 5, under which all members are obliged to assist an attacked nation.
One part of the draft that is likely to be opposed by Moscow says that “the guarantor states will be an ad hoc group of European countries and willing non-European countries.” There would be “no restrictions on the presence, weapons and operations of friendly foreign forces on the territory of Ukraine,” nor on the size of the Ukrainian military.
Funeral of Pope Francis: World leaders and royals pay their respects View Gallery
The draft says negotiations on territory would begin after the ceasefire comes into effect, and their starting point would be the current frontlines. But it adds that Ukraine would regain control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which has been occupied by Russian forces since March 2022.
On the proposed minerals agreement between the US and Ukraine, which would give the US access to billions of dollars-worth of rare metals, the draft says Ukraine will be fully compensated financially, including through Russian assets that will remain frozen until Russia compensates damage to Ukraine.
Moscow is also likely to oppose that.
The draft obtained by Reuters does not specifically mention Crimea. Witkoff’s plan proposed the US recognise Crimea as part of Russia, but did not suggest that Ukraine also had to. Recognising Russian control of Crimea, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014, would cross a major red line for Ukraine and its European allies, and would be in breach of established international law.
Zelenskyy rejected the idea, saying there was “nothing to talk about” as such a recognition would be against Ukraine’s constitution. He told reporters Friday: “I agree with President Trump that Ukraine does not have enough weapons to regain control of the Crimean peninsula by force of arms. But the world has sanctions opportunities, other economic pressure.”
CNN reported this week that Trump was getting frustrated with the stalling talks and has privately told advisers that mediating a deal has been more difficult than he anticipated.
Saturday’s talks came as Putin announced that Russia has regained control of Kursk, the border region where Ukraine launched a surprise offensive last year.
“The Kyiv regime’s adventure has completely failed,” Putin said, congratulating the Russian forces that he said defeated the Ukrainian military in the region.
But the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said in a Telegram post that Putin’s claim was “not true.”
“The defensive operation of the Ukrainian Defense Forces in the designated areas in Kursk region continues. The operational situation is difficult, but our units continue to hold their positions and perform their assigned tasks,” the Telegram post said.
Trump ‘flying into big success’ at Nato summit, claims Rutte who praises his ‘decisive action’ in Iran – as it happened
Nato secretary general Mark Rutte urges Europe to “make your defences so strong that no one dares to attack you,” as he rallied around the new proposed 5% GDP spending target. US president Donald Trump revealed a congratulatory text message he received from Rutte, praising him for “something no one else dared to do” on Iran. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s nominee to become the top US general in Europe has just said he believed Ukraine could prevail against Russia. The summit was hit by major train disruption in the Netherlands, with the government (9:56) and the police saying it could have been a deliberate act of sabotage. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to meet with Trump on the sidelines of the summit, just hours after the latest Russian strike killed at least 17 and wounded more than 200 (18:26). The summit gets under way tomorrow, and we will bring you all the key updates on live updates from Nato.
1d ago 18.01 BST Closing summary Jakub Krupa … and on that note, shortly before the leaders will start arriving for their opening dinner in The Hague, it’s a wrap for today! Nato secretary general Mark Rutte has urged Europe to “make your defences so strong that no one dares to attack you,” as he rallied around the new proposed 5% GDP spending target. “It is simply unthinkable that Russia, with an economy 25 times smaller than Nato’s, should be able to outproduce and outgun us,” he said (13:54, 16:34).
Meanwhile, US president Donald Trump revealed a congratulatory text message he received from Rutte, praising him for “something no one else dared to do” on Iran and promising him he was “flying into another big success in The Hague” (15:44)
He is set to arrive this evening after injecting some uncertainty over whether the US would abide by the mutual defense guarantees outlined in the Nato treaty by saying the US commitment to Nato’s Article 5 “depends on your definition” of the mechanism (16:29).
But his most senior diplomat at Nato, Matthew Whittaker, insisted “The United States isn’t going anywhere” (11:54), after Nato’s Rutte also said that allies should “stop worrying so much” about the US and focus on investing more money. Meanwhile, Meanwhile, European leaders largely backed the new 5% GDP target, with some – including Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy (9:26) and Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen (16:50) – even saying the proposed timeline risked being too slow, and Czech Republic’s Petr Pavel saying the ramp up reflects the needs “we were neglecting for decades” (16:48).
German chancellor Friedrich Merz said “it is no exaggeration to call this summit historic” given its importance to increasing defence spending among the members of the alliance (12:33).
Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni told the Italian parliament that if the country spends more on defence to meet its international commitments, the extra outlays should benefit Italian companies rather than foreign ones (12:06).
The Nato summit was hit by major train disruption in the Netherlands, with the government (9:56) and the police saying it could have been a deliberate act of sabotage (16:26). Elsewhere, President Donald Trump’s nominee to become the top US general in Europe has just said he believed Ukraine could prevail against Russia’s more than three-year-old invasion (17:12).
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy is expected to meet with Trump on the sidelines of the summit, just hours after the latest Russian strike killed at least 17 and wounded more than 200 (18:26). The summit proper gets under way tomorrow, and we will obviously bring you all the key updates on Europe Live. If you want to follow live updates from Trump’s arrival at Nato, you can tune into our US politics live blog here: Republican House speaker says law to check president’s authority over military action is unconstitutional – live Read more If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com. I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa. Share Updated at 19.21 BST
1d ago 17.26 BST Russian missile attack kills 17, hours before Zelenskyy’s attendance at Nato As European leaders get to The Hague, the latest report confirms that at least 17 people were killed in the Russian missile attack in southeastern Ukraine on Tuesday, a stark reminder of the threat posed by Russia. The main two-part strike killed 15 and wounded more than 200 in the regional capital Dnipro, said governor Serhiy Lysak, where a blast wave showered scores of train passengers with broken glass, Reuters reported. Among the wounded were at least 18 children, Lysak added. View image in fullscreen A handout photo made available by the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration shows a damaged passenger train following Russian shelling in the city of Dnipro, Ukraine. Photograph: Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration handout HANDOUT/EPA Reuters said that two further people were also killed in the town of Samar, around 10 km (six miles) from Dnipro, Lysak said, adding that an infrastructure facility was damaged. Share
1d ago 16.53 BST First leaders already in The Hague – in pictures View image in fullscreen European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte stand next to each other at the start of a plenary session of the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum in The Hague, the Netherlands. Photograph: Jonas Roosens/EPA View image in fullscreen Canadian prime minister Mark Carney meets with the Dutch prime minister at the Catshuis, the prime minister’s official residence, ahead of the NATO summit in The Hague, The Netherlands. Photograph: Jonas Roosens/EPA View image in fullscreen Britain’s prime minister Keir Starmer and Dutch prime minister Dick Schoof walk ahead of a bilateral meeting at the Catshuis on the sidelines of the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands. Photograph: Kin Cheung/Reuters View image in fullscreen Demonstrators march during a protest against the arrival of a ship carrying Israeli F-35 fighter jet parts and the Nato Summit, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Photograph: Rob Engelaar/EPA Share
1d ago 16.27 BST How Europe’s militaries depend on the US – visual analysis Alex Clark When it comes to raw firepower, Europe has a long way to go. View image in fullscreen The 76th Nato Summit in the World Forum in The Hague, Netherlands. Photograph: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto/Shutterstock Europe’s militaries still overwhelmingly rely on US-made weapons and equipment, according to Guardian analysis of stockpile data that raises doubts about ambitions for European-led rearmament. Close to half of the fighter jets in active service across European air forces originate from the US, while American – rather than European – missile defence systems remain the most widely deployed on the continent. The Guardian analysis below, based on arms transfer data published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) and stockpile figures published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), reveals just how deeply embedded the US defence industry is in European armies. Armed by America: how Europe’s militaries depend on the US – a visual analysis Read more Share
1d ago 16.12 BST ‘I think Ukraine can win,’ says Trump’s nominee for top US general in Europe And on that very point, President Donald Trump’s nominee to become the top US general in Europe has just said he believed Ukraine could prevail against Russia’s more than three-year-old invasion, Reuters reported. “I think Ukraine can win,” Air Force Lieutenant General Alexus Grynkewich said in testimony at his Senate confirmation hearing. “I think any time your own homeland is threatened, you fight with a tenacity that’s difficult for us to conceive of.” Share
1d ago 16.10 BST Focus on helping Ukraine win against Russia, but uncertainty here to stay, panelists say Poland’s Sikorski also says the focus is on helping Ukraine win against the Russian aggression. “We believe that preventing Russia from winning, from doing what Vladimir Putin has just reasserted three days ago, that he wants all of Ukraine, this is a doable job, and this is what we should focus on.” But Denmark’s Frederiksen says “There are still too many people believing or dreaming that it will end, maybe with a ceasefire or peace agreement, [and] then we will return to the good old days with peace in Europe. And I’m sorry to say, I don’t think that’s the case. I think the uncertainty we look at now is also the future, and because of that rearming Europe is for me the number one priority, and I totally agree with the global perspective.” Share
1d ago 16.06 BST Denmark’s Frederiksen gets asked about Trump’s claims to Greenland. She responds elegantly by saying: “I am really transatlantic in my heart, and I will do almost anything and everything to ensure that Nato is still the most important alliance in the future. So I’m not going to say anything against the US, and you will never find me in that position. We have a disagreement about Greenland. For now, I think the President is serious about this question, and so are we, because I think all of us have to respect the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark. And of course, the future of Greenland has to be decided in Greenland and nowhere else.” Poland’s Sikorski jumps in to make a statement saying that “Poland regards Greenland as part of the Kingdom of Denmark.” He then cracks a joke: “We don’t even make a claim on the island of Bornholm, even though we had a war about it in the 16th century.” In a further swipe at Trump, he also says Poland recognises the independent sovereignty of Canada. Share
1d ago 16.03 BST Talking up Europe’s capabilities, Poland’s Sikorski claims “Putin has woken a giant,” as “we are now going to spend real money on defence.” “Money is not going to be a constraint,” he says, adding that for Russia “within a few years, Russia will find it will be very difficult to match [our] spending.” Share
1d ago 15.59 BST Denmark’s Frederiksen says: “We are not at wartime, but we are definitely not at peacetime anymore, and I think the awareness [of] this is [in] the right places now. She says the focus should be on “rearming Europe’s” and investing in its industrial base. Share
1d ago 15.57 BST Czech Republic’s Pavel says one of the big questions facing Europe is “for how long the US will be able to maintain the same level of engagement in Europe,” adding “this is the area which we will have to discuss with our American allies.” He explains Europe needs to find out “what is the pace of disengagement, if any, and we should plan it properly, in a good coordination. We shouldn’t allow the situation that the United States are frustrated by lack of response from European allies to push us over the cliff, and by doing that, we have to embed building our own enablers into our defence planning that will be then reflected in our national budgets, and we have to do it in good coordination, because no single European country can build such a capacity on its own.” Share
1d ago 15.52 BST Europe needs to draw lessons from Ukraine’s experiences, Poland’s Sikorski says Polish foreign minister Sikorski says that Europe “needs to draw the lessons from what the Ukrainians have done,” building 200 factories in three years “because they know they are in wartime.” “We are not at war, but we are in crisis time, so we need to short circuit some of our procedures, planning procedures, that sort of thing,” he says. He then adds: “We don’t need to be as good as the United States. We just need to be better than the Russians. But the Russians are learning very fast too.” Share
1d ago 15.50 BST 2035 deadline for hitting new Nato target is ‘too late,’ Danish prime minister says Danish prime minister Frederiksen says that a 10-year perspective for hitting the 5% target is “too late, to be very frank and to be honest.” “My suggestion has been 2030, at latest. And I would like us as Europeans to rearm so we are able to defend ourselves and to deter Russia,” she says. Share
1d ago 15.48 BST New 5% target reflects urgent needs we ‘were neglectful for decades,’ Czech Republic’s Pavel says Czech president Pavel, a retired army general, opens the session by warning that Nato members “will not be safe by sheer numbers, … [but] safe by capabilities.” “The Supreme Commander in Europe will not fight with a chart. He will fight with real troops and concrete capabilities, including strategic neighbours, and that’s why we should base our funding on true requirements that are stemming from a NATO Defence planning process.” He says the new 5% target “is the reflection of needs that we were neglecting for decades, especially here in Europe.” Share Updated at 15.50 BST
1d ago 15.45 BST Czech Republic’s president Petr Pavel, Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen and Poland’s foreign minister Radosław Sikorski are now speaking at the Nato Public Forum. I will bring you the key news lines. Share
1d ago 15.44 BST We have to actively prepare for possibility of UK homeland under threat, government report says Ahead of today’s summit, the UK has published its National Security Strategy 2025, looking at established and emerging threats facing the country. Writing in the foreword to the report, prime minister Keir Starmer argued: “The world has changed. Russian aggression menaces our continent. Strategic competition is intensifying. Extremist ideologies are on the rise. Technology is transforming the nature of both war and domestic security. Hostile state activity takes place on British soil. It is an era of radical uncertainty, and we must navigate it with agility, speed and a clear-eyed sense of the national interest.” The report warned in particular that: “Many of the rules which have governed the international system in the past are eroding. Global commons are being contested by major powers like China and Russia, seeking to establish control and secure resources in outer space, cyberspace, the deep sea, and at the Arctic and Antarctic poles. There will be less scope for agreement on mechanisms which protect fair trade, set controls on science and technological developments and mitigate the effects of climate change, as multilateral institutions decline in influence.” It added: “The UK’s national security and growth objectives will be profoundly affected by tensions between the major powers and regulatory blocs on trade, technology and defence.” The study included particular warnings against Russia and Iran: “The most obvious and pressing example of this is Russia in its illegal war against a European neighbour. Ukrainians are paying the ultimate price as they find themselves at the frontline of this confrontation. This war has been accompanied with a campaign of indirect and sub-threshold activity – including cyber attacks and sabotage – by Russia against the UK and other Nato allies and the use of increased nuclear rhetoric in an attempt to constrain our decision making. Iranian hostile activity on British soil is also increasing, as part of the Iranian regime’s efforts to silence its critics abroad as well as directly threatening the UK. Meanwhile, some adversaries are laying the foundations for future conflict, positioning themselves to move quickly to cause major disruption to our energy and or supply chains, to deter us from standing up to their aggression.” It included this stark warning that: “For the first time in many years, we have to actively prepare for the possibility of the UK homeland coming under direct threat, potentially in a wartime scenario.” Earlier today, minister Pat McFadden said the 5% figure of GDP proposed at Nato was not just what he called “an out of date concept of defence and national security” that saw it “purely as the budget for the armed forces.” He told listeners: “Critical as that budget is and those capabilities are, you have to look after your broader security. Our cyber systems, for example, are under attack every day, sometimes by state actors, sometimes by non-state actors. “That is why things like your telecoms infrastructure and other things that help to make our society work are a really important part of our security.” Share
1d ago 15.34 BST Nato confirms Rutte’s congratulatory text to Trump On that Rutte text to Trump (15:44) – the one claiming Trump has done on Iran what “no one else dared to do,” and insisting he was “flying into another big success in The Hague this evening” to “achieve something NO American president in decades could get done”… Reuters has just reported that Nato officials confirmed the message was sent by Rutte to Trump earlier on Tuesday. Share
1d ago 15.29 BST Trump says US commitment to Nato’s Article 5 ‘depends on your definition’ On his way to the Netherlands, US president Donald Trump injected some uncertainty over whether the US would abide by the mutual defense guarantees outlined in the Nato treaty, AP reported, in vague comments made on board of Air Force One. View image in fullscreen US president Donald Trump speaks to media ahead of boarding Marine One to depart to attend the Nato Summit in The Hague, Netherlands. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters “Depends on your definition,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday as he was headed to The Hague, where this year’s summit is being held. “There’s numerous definitions of Article Five, you know that, right? But I’m committed to being their friends.” AP added that asked later to clarify, Trump said he is “committed to saving lives” and “committed to life and safety” but did not expand further, saying he didn’t want to elaborate while flying on an airplane. Share
1d ago 15.26 BST Police investigating potential crimes to disrupt Dutch trains looking for witnesses Earlier this morning, I reported on train disruption in the Netherlands disrupting the transport network on the day of the summit. View image in fullscreen No trains are running to and from Schiphol Airport due to a power failure. Photograph: Hollandse Hoogte/Shutterstock Speaking at a side event to the main summit, the Dutch security minister admitted that “it could be sabotage” (9:56). The latest update from the Dutch police says they suspect a criminal act to be the cause of the fire that caused disruptions. “The police are expressly considering a crime may have been committed and are further investigating the incident. We are looking for possible witnesses,” a police spokesperson told Reuters. Share