The NATO summit in The Hague revealed deep divisions between the U.S. and its European allies over Vladimir Putin’s intentions, with President Trump insisting the Russian leader seeks peace while European officials warned of looming threats.

U.S. and Europe Diverge on Putin’s Intentions

President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin is looking for a way out of his “messy” war in Ukraine, asserting that “he’d like to settle.” Speaking at the summit's conclusion on Wednesday, Trump admitted it was “possible” that Putin had further territorial ambitions but insisted the Russian leader was ready to negotiate.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed Trump’s view, suggesting that excessive sanctions could derail diplomatic momentum: “If we did what everybody here wants us to do... we probably lose our ability to talk to them about the ceasefire.”

However, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte painted a starkly different picture. “If we do not invest now, we are really at risk that the Russians might try something against NATO territory in three, five or seven years,” he said.

NATO Allies Raise Alarm

A senior NATO official dismissed the idea that Putin seeks peace, asserting that Russia’s goals go beyond Ukrainian territory to exerting political dominance over neighboring states. “We continue to doubt that Russia has any interest in meaningful negotiations,” the official said.

Despite this, NATO’s final declaration did recognize the “long-term threat posed by Russia,” attempting to bridge differences within the alliance.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a Trump ally, added to the split by claiming Russia was “not strong enough to represent a real threat to NATO.”

Defense Spending Agreement Overshadowed

The summit did produce a landmark agreement among member states to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP—a major win for Trump, who once called NATO a rip-off. Rutte even compared Trump to a stern “daddy” managing his geopolitical “underlings.”

Yet analysts noted that despite the absence of major disputes, the lack of a coordinated Russia strategy was a glaring omission.

Lack of Cohesion Clouds Future Diplomacy

Philippe Dickinson of the Atlantic Council warned that peace talks will remain difficult without unified views on what Putin seeks: “It’s not just something that Trump and Putin can agree themselves... there needs to be some sort of sharing of views among allies.”

He added that European leaders likely avoided challenging Trump directly to keep the summit calm, but that calm came at the cost of confronting key issues: “The lack of a Russia strategy is a real glaring omission from what the summit could have produced.”