This year’s outing is overshadowed by challenges as the Ukraine conflict staggers and politicians turn against NATO in Washington and Europe.
US President Joe Biden, preparing for his bid for re-election against Donald Trump, who has criticized NATO, will host the leaders of the 32-nation alliance. The US president has also invited the leaders of Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea to the summit, which also underlines NATO’s new strategic concept, the Asia-Pacific region.
The focus will be on Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who will want concrete guarantees, although NATO has not invited Ukraine to join the alliance.
Difficulties persist as Russia gradually pushes forward in eastern Ukraine, and questions arise as to the stability of US and European backing, especially with the possibility of a Trump back in office along with recent successes of the far-right in the recent French legislative elections.
Former NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg is now lobbying to ensure NATO, rather than the United States, is unanimously taking charge of organizing the military support for Ukraine. The summit will also be significant for the diplomatic coming-out party for Britain’s freshly minted Prime Minister, Keir Starmer.
As the NATO leaders keep assembling, a strategy for the Ukraine conflict is one of the significant points of the situation. While Zelensky wants more guarantees, Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz disapprove of Ukrainian NATO membership.
