Memo to Trump: Don’t go wobbly on Ukraine at the NATO summit

As President Donald Trump prepares to take center stage at the NATO summit in Ankara, he must place the robust defense of Ukraine at the absolute top of the agenda.

Whatever he does — whatever his current irritations — he must not look to throw Kyiv under the bus.

Rather, with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin still baring his gritted teeth, Trump must communicate to his counterparts in the great North Atlantic security alliance the necessity of holding the line, ramping up pressure on Moscow and bolstering its defensive posture on the eastern frontier.

Russian aggression is Europe’s generational security challenge (and down the road, potentially America’s, too); it demands to be top-of-mind for every leader in the alliance.

Anything less would signal weakness to Putin and embolden adversaries from Beijing to Tehran.

And Ukraine has shown great fortitude in repelling the attack: It’s now struck repeatedly inside Russia itself, raising the cost of war for Moscow.

And it’s held the pace of Russia’s acquisition of territory to a crawl. As Vice President JD Vance put it, the Russians are “paying a lot for every square kilometer they get.”

Meanwhile, America and Europe’s shared interests (which align far more than recent politics and rhetoric would suggest) demand that Trump leverage the moment to rally the alliance for decisive support, ensuring that Ukraine can stand up to the invasion rather than sue for a capitulation that rewards Moscow’s brutality.

Greenland, funding disputes and being granted overflight permission are all sideshows to the key events on the European stage — namely, the threat of Russian militarism and Putin’s sense of the historical necessity of Russia’s domination of the continent.

No doubt, as Ukraine continues to frustrate Moscow, the killer in the Kremlin will once again rattle his nuclear saber again.

Trump mustn’t flinch in the face of these threats. Putin knows any nuclear attack would result in a response that would spell the end of Russia entirely.

This war, which was strictly Putin’s choosing, is now in its fifth year and has cost Moscow dearly in treasure, lives and global reputation. It’s not sustainable for Russia.

Brave Ukraine has accepted its role as a buffer between civilization and barbarism.

Our and NATO’s shared financial burden, while significant, is nothing compared to the thousands of Ukrainian sons, brothers and husbands who have been lost, or to the sacrifice of decimated Mariupol.

President Trump, stand up for Ukraine in Ankara. It’s the least we can do.