NATO Leaders Gather in Ankara as Trump Tensions Linger
Leaders plan to sign arms deals worth tens of billions of dollars and pledge continued weapons support for Ukraine as they seek to ease tensions with Trump.
- NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will lead a summit in Ankara on July 7-8, where European officials aim to demonstrate increased defense spending and solidify the alliance despite lingering friction with the United States.
- President Donald Trump raised the stakes on Thursday, calling U.S. support for NATO 'ridiculous' on Truth Social. Tensions persist after 12 months of strains, including threats toward Denmark over Greenland and an unpopular war against Iran.
- European members and Canada spent more than $570 billion on defense in 2025, honoring pledges to boost security. Rutte declared the summit will prioritize turning this funding into 'combat-ready capabilities' and significantly scaling up domestic defense industries.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will attend the summit to engage in bilateral talks with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, emphasizing that 'if our partners had delivered what they promised on time' lives could have been saved.
- Hoping to avoid repeating recent diplomatic ruptures, members look to Rutte to smooth over strained personal ties between Trump and European leaders, keeping the alliance 'alive and kicking but a bit bruised.
27 Articles
27 Articles
The summit of tensions after Trump's words kicked off on Tuesday. Europe's commitment to achieving the Transatlantic Peace
As next week's NATO summit approaches, the German Chancellor and the presidents of the Baltic states are meeting in Berlin. Friedrich Merz emphasizes the unity of the region, and Gitanas Nausėda emphasizes the decision made at the last Hague summit to increase defense spending to 5 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The topics of the NATO summit in Ankara will also be related to strengthening the defense of the Alliance's eastern flank and…
NATO members are also expected to commit to providing 70 billion euros in military aid to Ukraine this year and at least the same amount in 2027.
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