Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been invited to the upcoming NATO summit in Ankara, the alliance’s Secretary General Mark Rutte has said.
Speaking at a press conference following a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, southern Sweden, on May 22, 2026, Rutte told reporters: “I invited him already. He will be there, like in The Hague,” referring to last year’s gathering in the Netherlands.
The summit is scheduled for July 7-8 at the Beştepe Presidential Complex in the Turkish capital. It will be the 36th NATO summit and the second hosted by Turkey, following the 2004 meeting in Istanbul.
Rutte’s confirmation appeared to clarify the format of Ukraine’s participation. Zelensky had previously stated Kyiv would be represented at the gathering though noted details were still being arranged.
According to POLITICO, the invitation has come despite earlier resistance from the United States to extending invitations to non-NATO partners. As well as Ukraine, the alliance is weighing invitations to Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea. NATO is also considering inviting Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates at the request of host Turkey.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the gathering would be “one of the more important leaders’ summits in the history of NATO”.
The Ankara meeting is expected to test the alliance’s unity at a time of significant divisions between the Trump administration and European allies over strategy on the Ukraine war and Russia, as well as Washington’s stated interest in acquiring Greenland and disagreements over the conflict in Iran.
Kyiv has also asked Turkey to host a potential meeting between Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said earlier this week. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has told Rutte that Ankara was working to revive direct negotiations.
Zelensky’s expected attendance comes as Kyiv intensifies its long-range campaign against Russian territory. In a social media post on May 22 following a meeting with the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrsky, the Ukrainian President has said his country was “bringing the war back home to Russia, and that is fair”.
The two had reviewed long-range drone strikes “against Russian oil refining and export assets”, targeting facilities in Yaroslavl in particular, according to Zelensky.
He also confirmed Ukrainian strikes “against designated targets on the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine”, after Moscow reported the bombing of an educational centre in a Russian-controlled town in the Luhansk region that left at least four people dead and around 30 injured.
“We are preparing further forms of our long-range sanctions and medium-range strikes in response to Russian attacks on our cities and communities,” Zelensky said.
He claimed Russian losses so far in 2026 had reached more than 145,000 personnel, including almost 86,000 killed, at least 59,000 seriously wounded and more than 800 captured. The figures have not been independently verified.
