Zelenskiy warns NATO allies before Hague summit of Russia threat

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Zelenskiy warns NATO allies before Hague summit of Russia threat

By Sabine Siebold , Andrew Gray and Jeff Mason

June 24, 2025 2:55 PM UTC Updated ago

Item 1 of 5 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks to the press with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (not pictured), on the sidelines of a NATO summit, in The Hague, Netherlands June 24, 2025. REUTERS/Claudia Greco/Pool REFILE – CORRECTING EVENT FROM “A BILATERAL MEETING” TO “SPEAK TO THE PRESS”.

[1/5] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks to the press with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (not pictured), on the sidelines of a NATO summit, in The Hague, Netherlands June 24, 2025. REUTERS/Claudia Greco/Pool REFILE – CORRECTING EVENT FROM “A BILATERAL MEETING” TO “SPEAK TO THE PRESS”. Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab

Summary

Zelenskiy warns of Russian threat to NATO members

Trump to meet Zelenskiy in The Hague

Rutte highlights need for transatlantic defence cooperation

Kremlin criticises NATO’s increased defence spending

THE HAGUE, June 24 (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned European NATOmembers on Tuesday that they risked being attacked by Russia if it was not defeated in Ukraine, urging them to heed U.S. calls to sign off a big new spending goal for the alliance at a summit.

The two-day gathering is intended to signal to Russian President Vladimir Putin that NATO is united, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s past criticism, and determined to expand and upgrade its defences to deter any attack from Moscow.

“Russia is even planning new military operations on NATO territory – meaning your countries,” Zelenskiy told a defence industry event on the sidelines of the summit, hours after Russian missiles killed at least 11 people in southeast Ukraine.

“No doubt we must stop Putin now, and in Ukraine, but we have to understand that his objectives reach beyond Ukraine. European countries need to increase defence spending.”

NATO’S RUTTE HAILS TRUMP’S ‘DECISIVE ACTION IN IRAN’

Trump, en route to the summit in the Netherlands, posted a screenshot of a message from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte congratulating him on his “decisive action in Iran” and getting all NATO allies to agree to spend at least 5% of their GDP on defence.

“Europe is going to pay in a BIG way as they should, and it will be your win,” the message read.

Trump was pressed by travelling reporters to say whether he remained committed to mutual defence among allies as set out by NATO’s Article 5, and responded:

“I’m committed to saving lives. I’m committed to life and safety. And I’m going to give you an exact definition when I get there.”

Trump is expected to meet Zelenskiy for talks during the summit. Zelenskiy has said he wants to discuss substantial purchases of weaponry including Patriot missile defence systems as well as sanctions and other ways to put pressure on Putin.

In The Hague, Zelenskiy said it was essential that Ukraine lead in drone technology, which has shaped the battlefield and developed at breathtaking pace in the 40 months the war has lasted so far.

Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister, underlined the need for transatlantic cooperation in the defence industry.

“Today, NATO’s military edge is being aggressively challenged by a rapidly rearming Russia, backed by Chinese technology and armed with Iranian and North Korean weapons,” he said.

“Only Europe and North America together can rise up to meet the challenge of rearmament.”

RUSSIA CRITICISES NATO’S SPENDING BOOST

The Kremlin accused NATO of being on a path of rampant militarisation and portraying Russia as a “fiend of hell” in order to justify its big increase in defence spending.

The summit and its final statement will be focused on heeding Trump’s call to spend 5% of GDP on defence – a significant jump from the current 2% goal. It is to be achieved both by spending more on military items and by including broader security-related spending in the new target.

Graphic: A chart showing the NATO defense spending as a share of GDP in 2014 and estimates for 2024, according to 2021 prices.

Russia has cited its neighbour’s desire to join the U.S.-led transatlantic defence pact as one of the reasons why it invaded Ukraine in 2022.

NATO was founded by 12 Western countries in 1949 to resist the threat from the communist Soviet Union.

Russia denies any plan to attack the alliance, which now boasts 32 members, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was “largely a wasted effort” to assure the grouping of this because it was determined to demonise Russia.

“It is an alliance created for confrontation … It is not an instrument of peace and stability,” he said.

Graphic: Bar chart showing defense expenditures of NATO members, based on 2021 prices and exchange rates from 2014 to 2024.

Additional reporting by Lili Bayer and , Bart Meijer in The Hague; Writing by Keith Weir; Editing by Dominique Vidalon and Kevin Liffey

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Andrew Gray

Thomson Reuters

Andrew Gray is Reuters’ European Affairs Editor. Based in Brussels, he covers NATO and the European Union and leads a pan-European team of reporters focused on diplomacy, defence and security. A journalist for almost 30 years, he has previously been based in the UK, Germany, Geneva, the Balkans, West Africa and Washington, where he reported on the Pentagon. He covered the Iraq war in 2003 and contributed a chapter to a Reuters book on the conflict. He has also worked at Politico Europe as a senior editor and podcast host, served as the main editor for a fellowship programme for journalists from the Balkans, and contributed to the BBC’s From Our Own Correspondent radio show.

Jeff Mason

Thomson Reuters

Jeff Mason is a White House Correspondent for Reuters. He has covered the presidencies of Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden and the presidential campaigns of Biden, Trump, Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain. He served as president of the White House Correspondents’ Association in 2016-2017, leading the press corps in advocating for press freedom in the early days of the Trump administration. His and the WHCA’s work was recognized with Deutsche Welle’s “Freedom of Speech Award.” Jeff has asked pointed questions of domestic and foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. He is a winner of the WHCA’s “Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure” award and co-winner of the Association for Business Journalists’ “Breaking News” award. Jeff began his career in Frankfurt, Germany as a business reporter before being posted to Brussels, Belgium, where he covered the European Union. Jeff appears regularly on television and radio and teaches political journalism at Georgetown University. He is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and a former Fulbright scholar.

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