The United States is trying to limit the presence of Ukraine and four partners from the Indo-Pacific region at the annual NATO summit, which will be held in Ankara in July, Politico reports. According to the publication, the White House seeks to see NATO solely as a Euro-Atlantic defense pact and reduce its role in global initiatives and partnerships that have been formed over decades.
Diplomats reported that the United States is pressuring allies not to invite Ukraine, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea to official meetings of the summit. At the same time, representatives of these states may participate in side events, partly in order to reduce the number of meetings during the summit.
An unnamed NATO official specified that “it will inform later about the participation of partners in the summit.” In addition, this year the Alliance decided to cancel the public forum, which traditionally brought together heads of state, defense experts and government officials, but the NATO Defense Industry Forum will be held in parallel with the summit.
“This year, NATO has decided not to organize a public forum, but will hold the NATO Defense Industry Forum on the sidelines of the summit in Ankara,” the publication’s source noted.
NATO representatives explained this decision by the desire to reduce costs due to lack of resources. Some diplomats believe the decision is also indirectly due to US pressure as part of Washington’s broader campaign to reduce funding for international organizations.
“NATO needs to communicate what is happening – and what it is going to do,” one diplomat said, stressing that the lack of a public forum is hurting perceptions of the Alliance and its defense initiatives.
