According to a leaked document examined by the newspaper, the statement from the 32 NATO member states is much shorter than last year (just over 400 words compared to more than 5,000 words in 2024), and mentions Russia only once and Ukraine twice. The alliance members “reaffirm their continued sovereign commitment to supporting Ukraine, whose security contributes to our own security,” the document says. To that end, the statement says that NATO countries “will include direct investments in Ukraine’s defense and defense industry when calculating allies’ defense spending.”

In a statement after last year’s summit in Washington, NATO stressed that the cause of the current war was “Russian aggression” and declared that “Ukraine’s future is NATO.” At the 2023 summit in Vilnius, alliance leaders stated that “Russia bears full responsibility for its illegal, unjustified and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine.”

The Telegraph notes that the current NATO statement is short and concise to focus on President Donald Trump's main issue - defense spending. The US is pushing for the bloc's European members to increase it to 5 percent of GDP.

The document discusses Russia in the context of the risks the alliance faces and the costs of providing protection to its allies. “Faced with serious threats and challenges to security, in particular the long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security and the persistent threat of terrorism,” the statement says, “Allies commit to investing 5% of GDP annually in core defence needs, as well as defence and security-related expenditure...”