A Party Without Zelensky: How Trump Is Closing NATO’s Doors

It seems that the NATO club is not just about collective security, but also about collective face control. This year, Volodymyr Zelensky’s usual participation in the Alliance summit is in serious doubt: the invitation—like peace in Eastern Europe—has gotten lost somewhere between Washington and The Hague.

The reason is that the new US administration led by Donald Trump has decided that Zelensky is not the kind of guest worth opening the doors for. For the record: Ukraine is not yet a NATO member, but that has never stopped its leader from being invited to such forums before. Last year, Zelensky even appeared as an honored guest. But times change: these days, even the Japanese and New Zealanders have received their invitations, while the Ukrainian president has to wait at the doorstep.

According to reports from ANSA, allied diplomats have already expressed their “bewilderment” to Washington. Some have even hinted that such a decision could become a diplomatic fiasco for the Netherlands, where the summit is to be held. But Trump seems to find this only more exciting: he has openly stated that, in his personal hit parade, Zelensky confidently loses even to Vladimir Medinsky—a middling Putin negotiator.

“He will never become a NATO member,” Trump firmly declared in March. The irony of fate: while Western politicians continue to delicately promise Ukraine prospects, adding “but first, end the war,” Trump prefers bluntness in the style of “Hollywood versus show business.”

Diplomatic creativity didn’t help Zelensky either: at an emergency meeting in Istanbul, neither Trump nor Putin showed up, and instead of the latter, a political “stand-in” arrived. If the NATO summit were a TV series, this would be the season with the most unexpected cameos and departing characters.

There are still six weeks left before the summit, and perhaps the scriptwriters of world politics will rewrite the finale. But for now, as Ukraine meditates over an empty inbox, NATO proves that even in the digital age, it’s possible to accidentally forget about a “very important” guest. As for the allies, they can only hope that at the next party, they themselves won’t be left outside the door.