Zelenskyy sidelined during NATO meet

The Hague: NATO leaders met Wednesday to agree a significant boost in defence spending, spurred by Russia’s military buildup and Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine could only look on from the sidelines.

His country, at war with Russia since the Kremlin’s invasion in 2022, has been front and centre at recent NATO summits.

But as the alliance’s latest annual meeting of leaders opened in The Hague, Zelenskyy was not in

the room.

Instead, he scheduled a series of face-to-face meetings with leaders at the summit venue, including with President Donald Trump.