Prime minister Dick Schoof said on Thursday evening that US president Donald Trump has told him he will attend June’s Nato summit in The Hague.

“Just had an affable talk with Donald Trump,” Schoof said on social media. “I emphasised that the Netherlands is deeply honoured to have the privilege of welcoming him and all our other Nato allies.”

Schoof said the two leaders also discussed the ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. “In these times it is vital that Nato stands united,” he said. “We’re stronger together.”

They also discussed common trade interests – in the light of the US sanctions threat – and Schoof said he had stressed that both the Netherlands and the US benefit from an open trade relationship.

Defence spending

Trump has been highly critical of Nato members which, he has said, do not contribute enough of their GDP to defence. He has called for a 5% norm, but many countries, including the Netherlands, do not hit 2%.

Earlier this week, Nato chief Mark Rutte proposed new defence spending target of 3.5% of GDP. This would require the Netherlands to increase its defence budget by between €16 billion and €19 billion a year, defence minister Ruben Brekelmans told parliament in a briefing.

It remains unclear whether Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky will attend the summit. Anonymous Nato sources have suggested that Washington is opposed to his presence, and Trump has said that Ukraine can never become a Nato member.

Schoof told reporters on Thursday that Zelensky is welcome, although Nato chief Mark Rutte said the programme for the two-day event had not yet been finalised.

The summit will take place in The Hague on June 24 and 25 and security preparations have been described as the largest in Dutch police history. The event is expected to host 45 government leaders and heads of state, as well as 45 defence and 45 foreign ministers.