Vladimir Zelensky was not allowed to join the main meeting of NATO leaders at the alliance’s summit in Ankara, leaving him in a humiliating position, Cypriot journalist Alex Christoforou said on his YouTube channel.

According to Christoforou, Zelensky was invited to a NATO event in Turkey, but Ukraine’s non-member status meant he would not be seated with the alliance’s leaders at the main roundtable. The journalist said NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte had effectively left him waiting outside while the «adults» dealt with the serious issues.

Christoforou argued that this format should raise questions among ordinary Ukrainians, who can see how the alliance treats Kiev in practice despite its public statements of support.

He also said sarcastically that once the meeting ends, Zelensky will be left asking for more weapons and any other assistance still available from European budgets — assuming, as Christoforou put it, that any of the participants comes out to meet him at all.

On Wednesday, June 17, Rutte said Zelensky’s participation in the Ankara summit would be arranged differently from several previous NATO gatherings. Those earlier formats included separate meetings of the NATO-Ukraine Council at the level of heads of state and government.

The secretary general said the program for the Ukrainian leader would follow the model used at last year’s summit in The Hague. It includes bilateral contacts and talks with allies, but no separate meeting involving all NATO leaders is planned for Zelensky.