On his way to the summit, the US president shared a screenshot of a private message from Rutte, stating: “Donald, you have driven us to a really, really important moment for America and Europe and the world. You will achieve something NO American president in decades could get done.”

“Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win,” Rutte wrote. NATO confirmed that he sent the message.

Ukraine has also endured consequences from the new conflict, creating demands for weapons and ammunition that Kyiv urgently needs, and diverting global attention. Previous NATO summits have almost exclusively centered on the war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year.

Still, Rutte insisted NATO could manage more than one conflict at a time.

“If we would not be able to deal with … the Middle East, which is very big and commanding all the headlines, and Ukraine at the same time, we should not be in the business of politics and military at all,” he noted.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in The Hague for meetings, despite his absence from a leaders’ meeting aiming to seal the military spending agreement.

It’s a big change since the summit in Washington last year, when the alliance’s weighty communique included a vow to supply long-term security assistance to Ukraine, and a commitment to back the country “on its irreversible path” to NATO membership.

Zelenskyy’s first official engagement this time was with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof at his official residence across the road from the summit venue.

But in a telling sign of Ukraine’s status at the summit, neither leader mentioned NATO. Ukraine’s bid to join the alliance has been put in deep freeze by Trump.

“Let me be very clear, Ukraine is part of the family that we call the Euro-Atlantic family,” Schoof told Zelenskyy, who in turn said he sees his country’s future in peace “and of course, a part of a big family of EU family.”

Schoof used the meeting to announce a new package of Dutch support to Kyiv including 100 radar systems to detect drones and a move to produce drones for Ukraine in the Netherlands, using Kyiv’s specifications.

The US has made no new public pledges of support to Ukraine since Trump took office six months ago.

Meeting later with Rutte and top EU officials, Zelenskyy appealed for European investment in Ukraine’s defence industry, which can produce weapons and ammunition more quickly and cheaply than elsewhere in Europe.

“No doubt, we must stop (Russian President Vladimir) Putin now and in Ukraine. But we have to understand that his objectives reach beyond Ukraine,” he said. He said NATO’s new target of 5 per cent of GDP “is the right level.”