The final statement of the NATO summit in The Hague was almost ten times shorter than last year's document.
NATO allies have agreed to tone down the language on Russia in the final statement of the summit in The Hague.
The Telegraph reports this with reference to a leaked document.
According to sources, the text of the communique was significantly shortened – it became less harsh and almost 10 times shorter than last year's statement in Washington. All because of the desire to adapt the document to the position of Donald Trump, who opposes harsh criticism of Russia, so as “not to harm future negotiations with Putin.”
“The speech has become weaker in order to focus on the main thing – defense spending,” the publication notes.
The statement said that the 32 NATO member countries reaffirm their “long-term sovereign commitment to support Ukraine,” which “will also contribute to our security.” It specifically mentioned that contributions to support Ukrainian defense and its defense industry will be included in the national defense expenditure of allies.
For comparison: last year in Washington, NATO directly placed responsibility for the war on Russia, and in Vilnius 2023 it was directly noted that “Russia bears full responsibility for the illegal, unprovoked aggression against Ukraine.”
The current statement contains just over 400 words – by comparison, last year's communiqué consisted of more than 5,000 words.
During the summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tried to persuade partners to take a tougher stance against the Kremlin's aggression, but this was not reflected in the statement.
Let us recall that earlier we wrote that American leader Donald Trump announced what he would talk about with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Thus, the heads of state should discuss “difficulties.”
In addition, it was reported that the US position on Ukraine at the NATO summit caused controversy among allies. US President Donald Trump initiated the removal of references to Ukraine's membership from the final communiqué of the NATO summit, which caused tension among allies. Some leaders, in particular German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, insisted on a tougher position on Russia and active support for Ukraine.
