World leaders gather for historic NATO summit with unity on the line

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — World leaders were gathering in the Netherlands on Tuesday for the start of a historic two-day NATO summit that could unite the world’s biggest security organization around a new defense spending pledge or widen divisions among the 32 allies.

The allies are expected to endorse a goal of spending 5% of their gross domestic product on their security, to be able to fulfil the alliance’s plans for defending against outside attack.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s first appearance at NATO since returning to the White House was supposed to center on how the U.S. secured the historic military spending pledge from others in the security alliance — effectively bending it to its will.

But in the spotlight instead now is Trump’s decision to strike three nuclear enrichment facilities in Iran that the administration says eroded Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, as well as the president’s sudden announcement that Israel and Iran had reached a “complete and total ceasefire.”

Past NATO summits have focused almost entirely on the war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte insisted that it remains a vital topic.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in The Hague for a series of meetings, despite his absence from a leaders’ meeting aiming to seal the agreement to boost military spending.

It’s a big change since the summit in Washington last year, when the military alliance’s weighty communique included a vow to supply long-term security assistance to Ukraine, and a commitment to back the country “on its irreversible path” to NATO membership.

In a joint tribune on the eve of this year’s summit, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said they backed U.S. peace efforts that should preserve Ukraine’s sovereignty and European security.

“For as long as the current trajectory lasts, Russia will find in France and Germany an unshakeable determination. What is at stake will determine European stability for the decades to come,” they wrote in the Financial Times newspaper.

“We will ensure that Ukraine emerges from this war prosperous, robust and secure, and will never live again under the fear of Russian aggression,” the two leaders wrote.

Ahead of the official program, Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof. Later in the day, Zelenskyy will address the Dutch parliament.