Oleg Davygora17:53, 18.06.25

Next week’s summit will consist of only one session lasting two and a half hours.

Aware of US President Donald Trump’s dislike of long meetings, diplomats have said that the meeting in The Hague next week will consist of just one session lasting two and a half hours, The Times reports .

“Short and sweet is the plan for next week’s NATO summit, tailored to President Trump’s limited attention span and the need to avoid emotional outbursts and mistakes,” the article said.

The alliance is set to meet in The Hague next Tuesday to set ambitious new defense spending targets for national governments, a short meeting to deal with Trump, who is unpredictable and impatient with long talks.

The publication reminds that the NATO summit format usually consists of three meetings, each lasting two and a half hours and dedicated to geopolitics and strategy. Next week’s summit will consist of only one session lasting two and a half hours.

The summit communiqué, which will set out NATO’s spending targets, will be just five paragraphs on a single A4 sheet. Last year, a 44-paragraph, 5,400-word statement was adopted in Washington. One diplomat said:

“It’s about keeping the summit focused, short and to the point. Trump can be impatient and, as he himself has said, unable to focus on one thing for long. The shorter the better.”

It is noted that NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte intends to focus on a single solution – to increase NATO defense spending to 5%.

Officials and diplomats organizing the meeting hope to draw lessons from last weekend’s G7 summit, when Trump left before the event ended and then lashed out at other leaders on social media.

“Will there be a late-night or early-morning sensationalist report on Truth Social if he gets angry at the summit?” one diplomat said.

Also according to the summit agenda, Trump will not hold a press conference with Rutte, as is customary. The spending decision will be presented as a personal triumph for Trump after decades of American presidents noting down European allies.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been invited to the summit, but with a diplomatic demotion to avoid awkward meetings with Trump. Although Zelensky has no official role and will not meet with NATO leaders, the Ukrainian president will attend a dinner hosted by the King of the Netherlands on Tuesday evening.

NATO Summit – details

Earlier, Zelensky confirmed that Ukraine had received an invitation to the NATO summit in The Hague .

The final summit communiqué does not plan to mention Ukraine in the declaration , and Russia will again be called a long-term threat in the document. NATO countries will also commit to raising defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2032, but this commitment may be reviewed in 2029. At the same time, diplomats note that the communiqué may still change during the editing process.

(C)UNIAN 2025