US Opposes Participation of Ukraine, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, and Japan at Upcoming NATO Summit

The United States is urging NATO member states not to invite representatives from Ukraine, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, and Japan to the Alliance’s upcoming July summit in Ankara.

POLITICO reports that, according to its sources, Washington is also seeking to scale back NATO missions in Kosovo and Iraq.

These efforts reflect the White House’s desire to treat NATO strictly as a Euro-Atlantic defense pact and to roll back decades of expansion, global partnerships, and values-based initiatives that have long irritated Trump and his MAGA supporters.

The White House declined to publicly comment on NATO’s partnership programs and global operations when contacted by POLITICO.

New details emerged after US Deputy Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby recently outlined the administration’s thinking behind what he called ‘NATO 3.0.’

This US initiative is drawing negative reactions from some allies.

NATO Missions in Iraq and Kosovo

NATO in Iraq

In Iraq, NATO runs an advisory mission aimed at strengthening Iraqi security institutions to prevent the return of the Islamic State group. The operation was launched during Trump’s first term in 2018 and has been expanded several times since 2021 at the request of the Iraqi government. Washington has asked its allies to conclude the mission as early as September.

NATO in Kosovo

The UN-mandated international peacekeeping mission in Kosovo began in 1999 after Yugoslav Wars. It currently includes around 4,500 troops, mainly from NATO member states.

According to four diplomats, the United States has also signaled that it wants to reduce the number of troops in the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR), raising further concerns among European allies, even though discussions are still at a very early stage.

US Pressure to Exclude Partners from the Upcoming Summit

The United States is also pressing allies not to invite Ukraine and the Alliance’s four official Indo-Pacific partners – Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea – to the formal meetings of NATO’s July summit in Ankara, four diplomats said.

They added that the countries could still be invited to side events, with the request partly justified by a reduction in the number of high-level meetings.