General Hodges said he saw “no item” on Ukraine on the official agenda for the NATO summit.
At the upcoming NATO summit, the priority will not be supporting Ukraine, but reaching an agreement to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP.
This opinion was expressed by the former commander of the US ground forces in Europe, retired US Army Lieutenant General Ben Hodges on the air of the telethon in the “1+1” slot.
He expressed disappointment that Ukraine was not at the top of the agenda and called on European leaders to seize the opportunity to step up aid to Kyiv.
NATO summit priorities: 5% of GDP for defense
“The best thing for Ukraine would be to use this summit to have bilateral conversations with leaders from different countries to express their support for both Ukraine and President Zelensky personally,” Hodges said.
However, according to the general, this issue “is not even the first item on the agenda.”
“I read here and see that they just want to come to an agreement that everyone will reach [the level of spending – ed.] 5% of GDP on defense,” he said.
The general stressed that this would be a difficult task, citing the example of Spain, which has already said that it cannot increase defense spending by that much and therefore does not approve of the initiative. In his opinion, the main goal of the summit will be “just to agree on 5%, make peace and not let President Trump get away from it.”
Lack of Attention to Ukraine and a Call to Action
Hodges sees “no item” on Ukraine on the official agenda for the NATO summit. However, he expressed hope that leaders will come together and use the occasion to help Ukraine.
“There will be a lot of talk, meetings and all kinds of conferences,” Hodges noted.
He also added that he would personally attend side events in The Hague on Monday evening and morning, where he planned to speak to German, Dutch and British journalists.
“We will call, we will draw attention to Ukraine, to how important it is to help it,” Hodges concluded, emphasizing that he “certainly will not give up” and will “pressure” the White House so that the Trump administration finally realizes the importance of helping Ukraine in countering Russian aggression.
Let us recall that the US is putting pressure on NATO allies over Ukraine. The final communiqué of the Alliance's June summit will likely only briefly mention Ukraine's defense capabilities without a clear confirmation of support.
