The North Atlantic alliance will keep discussions on Ukraine to a minimum, and President Volodymyr Zelensky will not be allowed to address the attendees at this week’s summit in Turkey. The steps are being taken to avoid upsetting President Donald Trump. 

The Telegraph reported on Sunday, “The alliance has opted to keep Zelensky and the whole Ukraine issue on the sidelines for fear of upsetting Trump.”

Tensions between Washington and Brussels are high because of the war against Iran. Trump launched the war without consulting European countries. When the conflict did not go as planned in Washington and Tel Aviv, Trump called on European countries to assist in reopening the Strait of Hormuz and allow the US to use its bases to wage the war. 

When his requests were rebuffed, the President lashed out at NATO. Last week, the President made a number of posts questioning America’s future in the bloc on Truth Social. 

The sidelining of the Ukraine issue at the major NATO summit comes at a troubling time for Kiev. On Monday, Zelensky said that Kiev was in desperate need of more interceptors and Ukrainian forces were unable to down any Russian ballistic missiles Sunday night. 

On Monday, he called on NATO members to make strong decisions in support of Ukraine at the summit. “It is critically important that the world—first and foremost the United States and our European partners—come out of the NATO Summit in Ankara with strong decisions in support of our air defense, and thus the protection of ordinary people’s lives,” he urged. “As long as Patriot missiles remain in our allies’ stockpiles, Russia is only encouraged to keep ‘vanquishing’ residential buildings.”

Zelensky may find he has fewer allies in Ankara than he did at previous NATO gatherings. Poland recently reversed a decision to give Ukraine retired fighter jets after Zelensky honored Ukrainians who fought alongside Nazis in World War II.