Rutte: Zelenskyy to join NATO summit in Ankara

NATO has officially invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to its forthcoming leaders’ summit in Ankara, announced alliance chief Mark Rutte on Friday.

“I invited him already, yes I did — he will be there,” Rutte said in response to a question from POLITICO in the southern city of Helsingborg during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, News.Az reports.

The invite comes despite the U.S. previously resisting efforts to extend invitations to non-NATO partners, including Ukraine, as well as Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea.

NATO will hold its summit in Ankara July 7-8, which is likely to include a formal leaders' meeting and a parallel industry forum, where non-NATO capitals will participate.

But Zelenskyy has not yet formally accepted the invite. His attendance is “not clear yet,” one European official familiar with the invite told POLITICO. “Everything is still being decided. Everyone's in waiting mode.”

The alliance is also weighing inviting Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to the summit at the request of the gathering’s host, Türkiye.

News.Az 

By Ulviyya Salmanli