NATO Summit May Shift Attention Back to Ukraine, Former US Ambassador Kauzlarich Says

In an interview with Kyiv Post, Richard Kauzlarich said Russian threats signal the effectiveness of Ukraine’s drone warfare and the growing pressure Moscow faces on the battlefield. Make us preferred on Google Share Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Bluesky Email Copy Copied Former US Ambassador Richard Kauzlarich, current co-director of the Center for Energy Science and Policy at George Mason University, during an interview on April 20, 2026. (Photo: Kyiv Post) Content Share Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Bluesky Email Copy Copied Flip Make us preferred on Google Washington, DC – The upcoming NATO summit in Türkiye may shift international attention back to Ukraine, even as Washington remains absorbed by the crisis in the Middle East, former US ambassador Richard Kauzlarich told Kyiv Post. Kauzlarich currently serves as co-director of the Center for Energy Science and Policy at George Mason University. On Tuesday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will visit Ankara, Türkiye, where he is scheduled to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Defense Minister Yaşar Güler. Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official . “There are always these international events which kind of drive priorities,” Kauzlarich said. “Maybe the attention to Iran will shift back to Ukraine as we get closer to the NATO summit.” He added that the summit, which begins on July 7, will be especially worth watching for two reasons – whether President Donald Trump attends and how Ukraine is discussed if he does. Kauzlarich argued that the problem is not only political will, but also capacity. In his view, it is extremely difficult for Washington to manage major negotiations on Ukraine and Iran at the same time, particularly without deeper staffing support. “In the case of the American negotiators, normal circumstances would see support from the Department of State, Department of Defense and the National Security Council as part of a team that would deal with Russia and Ukraine, and there would be a different set of officials from those same agencies who would deal with Iran,” he said. “There’s no evidence that there’s the underlying staff support to successfully conduct both sets of major negotiations simultaneously. And we still have Gaza working in the background of all of this.” Other Topics of Interest EU Ambassadors Poised to Approve €90 Billion Ukraine Loan on Wednesday EU envoys are expected to decide Wednesday on a major new support package for Kyiv, with Budapest likely to lift its objections if oil deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline resume in time. “So I think it’s going to be very hard to do these simultaneously,” he said. “I’m not surprised, given the impact of the Iran war on the United States economy and the global economy, that the priority would be on that negotiation.” Kauzlarich said he was struck by recent reports about Ukraine’s drone-production agreements with European countries and Russian threats that related facilities could become targets. He argued that the threats underscore Russia’s increasingly difficult position in the war. “Obviously the Russians are really in a bad position in Ukraine,” he said. “The reason they are militarily in a bad position is because the Ukrainians have been extraordinarily successful in their use of non-conventional military tactics and equipment, including drones both on land, in the air and at sea,” he said. “It’s really been quite remarkable.” Kauzlarich said Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian energy assets have been especially important because they send a message to Putin that Russia is not beyond reach, despite its greater size and military weight on paper. Sevinj Osmanqizi is a journalist covering US foreign policy, security, and geopolitics, with a focus on the broader post-Soviet space. She reports on Washington’s decision-making and its implications for Ukraine and regional stability.