Ukrainian President Zelenskyy sidelined as NATO leaders meet to agree defense spending boost

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Spurred by Russia's assertive subject physique up and Moscow's penetration of Ukraine, NATO leaders met Wednesday to hold a important boost successful defence spending. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could lone look connected from the sidelines.

Ukraine, which has been astatine warfare with Russia since Moscow's amerciable penetration successful 2022, has been beforehand and halfway astatine caller NATO summits, but arsenic the alliance's yearly leaders' gathering opened successful The Hague, Zelenskyy was not successful the room.

Instead, helium scheduled a bid of face-to-face meetings with leaders astatine the acme venue, including with U.S. President Donald Trump, who had a large bust up with Zelenskyy earlier this twelvemonth successful the Oval Office.

“Well, we’ll sermon the obvious. We’ll sermon his difficulty. He’s got a small difficulty, Zelenskyy,” Trump told reporters earlier joining the summit. “He’s a bully guy. I mean, I’m going to conscionable him today. I don’t know, I presume we’re going to beryllium discussing Ukraine.”

Trump's medication has blocked Ukraine's bid to articulation NATO.

The struggle has laid discarded to Ukrainian towns and killed thousands of civilians. Just past week, Russia launched one of the biggest drone attacks of the penetration connected Kyiv.

Russian leaders and subject apical brass person been accused of warfare crimes including targeting civilian infrastructure. The International Criminal Court, based successful The Hague, has issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin connected charges of engagement successful abducting Ukrainian children. Putin denies the charges.

Zelenskyy spent Tuesday successful The Hague shuttling from gathering to meeting. He got a pledge from acme big the Netherlands for subject assistance including caller drones and radars to assistance sound retired Russian drones.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that the U.K. volition supply 350 aerial defence missiles to Ukraine, funded by 70 cardinal pounds ($95 million) raised from the involvement connected seized Russian assets.

Zelenskyy dined Tuesday nighttime astatine Dutch King Willem-Alexander's Huis Ten Bosch palace with NATO leaders including Trump. The 2 leaders were seated astatine antithetic tables — Zelenskyy sitting with Dutch Queen Maxima and Trump with the king.

On Wednesday, arsenic the NATO leaders met, Zelenskyy scheduled much meetings to support his nation's conflict astatine the forefront of their thoughts.

Later successful the day, Zelenskyy was traveling to France to motion disconnected connected plans to acceptable up a new planetary court to prosecute those accused of orchestrating Russia’s warfare against Ukraine.

The peculiar tribunal volition people the elder Russian leaders who launched the full-scale invasion, the archetypal “crime of aggression” that underlies the countless atrocities Ukraine accuses Russian forces of committing.

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Associated Press writer Molly Quell successful The Hague, Netherlands, and Jill Lawless successful London contributed.