After the outbreak of the Israel-Iran war — and especially following the United States' powerful airstrike on Iran's nuclear facilities — the question arose: is all this beneficial or harmful to Ukraine and European security? In hindsight, it appears to have been more beneficial. Primarily because U.S. President Donald Trump arrived at the NATO summit in The Hague in high spirits, saying, as he put it, "I ended that war."

Dispelling doubt

In the months leading up to the summit, the mood in Europe was grim. The U.S. president's statements about NATO, Russia and Ukraine were anything but reassuring. There was deep concern that the United States, if not withdrawing entirely from NATO, would at least drastically reduce its military presence in Europe. After the elections, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz remarked that he wasn't sure whether NATO, in its current form, would even make it to The Hague.

During his election campaign, Trump said he wasn't certain the U.S. would come to the aid of allies under Article 5 if they failed to meet their defense obligations. Even right before flying to The Hague, Trump claimed that Article 5 was "open to interpretation." He also made threats about annexing NATO member state Canada and seizing Greenland from another NATO member, Denmark.

The meeting in The Hague went a long way toward dispelling those fears. The final declaration included four key points worth highlighting. First, it reaffirmed an unwavering commitment to Article 5. Second, all member states pledged to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP by 2035. Third, the declaration recognized Russia as a long-term threat to Euro-Atlantic security. And fourth, it affirmed individual (not collective NATO) commitments by member states to Ukraine's security.

Of course, there's room for criticism. At a time when Europe is experiencing its largest war since World War II, the conflict wasn't mentioned at all. Ukraine's NATO prospects were not addressed. There was no clear plan outlined for compelling Russia to make peace. And a ten-year timeline for reaching 5 percent defense spending is far too slow to build serious deterrence against Russia. As it stands, Russia is already producing more weapons on its own than all of NATO combined. Are we supposed to believe Moscow will sit on its hands while NATO arms itself over the next decade?

At the same time, those who argue that a short, one-page declaration was a good thing have a point. Everything that might have irritated Trump and pushed him to slam the door on NATO was carefully edited out. In other words, the document was tailored to please Trump. Speeches were filled with praise for the "strong president." Trump returned the favor with compliments for the "fine gentlemen." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also earned his praise. It was, in fact, a significant moment that Trump met with Zelenskyy one-on-one for nearly an hour. Before the summit, there had even been speculation that the meeting might not happen at all.

Peace through strength

The events in Iran were instructive in another sense as well: they showed that in the eyes of the U.S. at least, Russia is not the geopolitical superpower the Kremlin likes to imagine itself to be. Iran and Russia are military allies, and it is with Iranian drones that Russia terrorizes Ukrainian cities. Moscow and Tehran have signed a strategic cooperation agreement, and now it turns out that Israel and the U.S. can strike Russia's ally with impunity — while Russia does absolutely nothing.

For the first time, the U.S. demonstrated that the model of "peace through strength" works far better than any kind of "deals" with an enemy. It's telling how Trump coolly dismissed Moscow's offer to mediate in the Iran conflict, saying the war in Ukraine should be resolved first.

Maybe there's something to the idea of knocking out the Axis of Evil's teeth one by one — first Syria (though the U.S. likely wasn't involved there), now Iran. As unlikely as it may seem, North Korea could be next in line. Just as Iran dreams of wiping out Israel, North Korea wants to erase South Korea from the map. And Russia is trying to destroy Ukraine...

In conclusion, there is room to critique the outcome of the NATO summit — but for now, talk of NATO's disintegration can be set aside. This was Trump's summit, and it should go down in history as such. After all, increasing defense spending was Trump's main demand of the allies. And he got what he wanted.

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