NATO leaders' summit starts in Hague, Zelenskyy meets with Dutch PM

On the first day of the summit, a Public Forum was held, at which NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte spoke. Espreso broadcast his speech.

Rutte noted that he was proud that the summit would be held in The Hague, his hometown. He also said that the main topic of discussion at this year's summit will be the increase in defense spending by member states.

In addition, the first day's program includes a plenary session of the NATO Summit Defense Industry Forum, a meeting between NATO Secretary General and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council Antonio Costa with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a social dinner organized for the participants by King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, working dinners of the NATO-Ukraine Council (at the level of foreign ministers) and the North Atlantic Council (at the level of defense ministers) chaired by Mark Rutte and the Dutch Defense Minister, respectively.

Zelenskyy arrives in the Netherlands

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived in the Netherlands and met with the country's Prime Minister Dick Schoof at his official residence, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

During a joint press conference, Zelenskyy thanked for the aid package to Ukraine from the Netherlands, emphasizing that it will be useful both on the battlefield and for domestic production.

He also said that he plans to discuss with Schoof clusters on Ukraine's accession to the EU and joint production of drones.

"Of course, I want to talk to you about what we need to focus on, that the most important thing for us is joint production of drones. Now we see that this is a priority for the world. Everyone knows that the level of technology in Ukraine has increased significantly during the war. We have these technologies and want to share them with our partners," the president noted.

• On June 23, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that the final declaration of the summit to be held in The Hague on June 24-25 would contain important wording on Ukraine.