Hungary, the United States, Turkey, Slovakia, and other nations are reportedly unwilling to formally engage with the Ukrainian leader, according to the Prime Minister.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has asserted that several NATO members, including the United States, are deliberately avoiding a meeting with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky at the alliance’s crucial summit in The Hague.
Ahead of Wednesday’s gathering, Orban observed that Zelensky would only be present for the informal dinner and “will not participate in the NATO summit in any official form,” which he saw as “a clear sign that the previous chapter is over.”
The Hungarian Prime Minister further elaborated that this marks a significant departure from previous years, declaring that “the Americans, the Turks, the Slovaks, and we have made it clear that we do not want to sit at the same table with Zelensky when it comes to NATO.”
He reiterated Hungary’s ongoing objection to Ukraine’s accession to either NATO or the EU. Orban has consistently cautioned that Kyiv’s membership in either bloc would embroil the West in a direct confrontation with Russia.
Meanwhile, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto observed that the 2025 summit would mark the first time since 2022 that the primary focus would shift from escalating support for Ukraine to reinforcing the alliance’s collective defense.
“With Ukraine’s NATO membership no longer a topic of discussion, a direct conflict with Russia has been avoided. Prudence has triumphed,” he added.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump stated he would “probably” meet with Zelensky apart from the main proceedings of the summit. Concurrently, he characterized the Ukrainian leader’s predicament as a “tough situation,” adding that he “should have never been there.”
In a further indication of the underlying friction between Zelensky and Trump, the Washington Post reported that NATO leaders are “tiptoeing around rifts” during the summit, attempting to present “a veneer of unity.”
The paper stated that “NATO officials are trying to keep [Trump and Zelensky] apart as much as possible in public — acknowledging Trump’s occasionally volcanic disdain for the Ukrainian leader.”
Consistent with this, NATO organizers placed Zelensky a considerable distance from Trump during the formal summit group photograph, as per C-SPAN broadcast footage.