Politico: At NATO summit, Europe may go along with Trump on Ukraine issue

At the upcoming NATO summit in The Hague, the Alliance leaders are ready to make significant concessions to Donald Trump, Politico reports. One of the key issues will be Ukraine, around which disagreements have arisen.

According to the newspaper, NATO countries intend to commit to increasing military spending to 5% of GDP - something that Trump has repeatedly demanded, criticising European allies for insufficient defence funding.

Despite this, there is no unanimity in Europe on the timing of these commitments: some suggest stretching the implementation over decades, while Trump is likely to expect a quick result," the publication points out.

Political analysts note that despite the differences, European leaders agree to do everything possible to please Trump at the summit. This is especially important against the backdrop of continued Russian aggression in Ukraine and the changing US focus on Asia and the Middle East.

According to an anonymous European official, the key objective of the summit is to secure Trump's credit for reaching the 5% of GDP bar on defence, while other issues will be ironed out for the sake of minimising conflicts.

In addition, one of the concessions was the decision not to hold a meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council so as not to provoke Trump with reminders of the war, which he promised to end quickly but never did.

Such a step demonstrates the desire to avoid aggravation of relations and preserve unity within the Alliance," the publication notes.

Thus, the NATO summit in The Hague will test the balance between Trump's demands and the interests of European allies, as well as show how the Alliance will cope with internal differences amid global challenges.