Tuesday, July 14Tuesday, July 14
6 days · 2 summary articles
NATO summit in Ankara ends with fragile unity and new Ukraine aid pledge
NATO pledges 140 billion in military support to Ukraine over 2026 and 2027
NATO’s two-day summit in Ankara concluded on Wednesday with a fragile show of unity, as US President Donald Trump softened his usual criticism of allies while extracting new commitments from European members to shoulder more of the alliance’s defense burden. The gathering, hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, delivered a €140 billion military aid package for Ukraine over 2026–2027, a pledge to expand NATO’s airborne surveillance capabilities, and a pledge by Kyiv to begin licensed production of US Patriot missile interceptors.
Trump, who had earlier threatened Spain over NATO spending and reiterated his ambitions regarding Greenland, struck a conciliatory tone in Ankara, reaffirming the alliance’s mutual defense clause under Article 5 and greenlighting Ukraine’s right to manufacture Patriot missiles domestically. “The meeting was very productive,” Trump told reporters, thanking Erdoğan for hosting the summit. “We had a great two days.” The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, called the talks “constructive,” emphasizing the focus on strengthening Kyiv’s air defenses amid intensifying Russian strikes.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte praised Trump’s push for higher defense spending, noting that European allies and Canada had increased military expenditures by $215 billion over the past two years. “The increase is staggering,” Rutte said, adding that the summit had produced a “strong sense of unity” among members. The alliance’s final declaration reaffirmed its “ironclad commitment” to collective defense, though analysts noted lingering doubts about the durability of that unity given Trump’s unpredictable rhetoric.
The summit also saw Turkey’s growing role in the alliance’s defense industrial base, with Turkish defense exports reaching $10.9 billion in 2026. Erdoğan dismissed objections from Israel and Greece to a potential F-35 sale to Turkey, stating that such concerns had “no place” in the alliance’s deliberations. Trump, who has yet to finalize the jet sale, said his “inclination leans toward approval,” citing Erdoğan’s long-standing support for the US.
Beyond Ukraine, NATO members agreed to send minesweepers to the Strait of Hormuz, a move likely to provoke Iran, which has repeatedly warned foreign navies against operating in the waterway. Trump also confirmed that the US had lifted sanctions on Syria and was considering removing Damascus from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, following a meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on the summit’s sidelines.
European leaders hailed the summit as a turning point for the alliance. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz described the Ankara gathering as the “dawn of a new, more European NATO,” acknowledging Trump’s criticism of years of European underinvestment. Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal told *Euronews* that NATO was “working well,” pushing back against doubts about the alliance’s future. “NATO is not entering a new era—it is already in one,” Michal said.
Yet skepticism persisted. Political scientist Linas Kojala, writing in *Delfi*, noted that while the summit had restored a sense of unity, “the political atmosphere remains turbulent, even chaotic.” Handelsblatt struck a more critical tone, arguing that Trump’s unpredictability had left Europeans questioning the reliability of US commitments. “The mutual defense obligation under Article 5 is a fragile seedling,” the newspaper wrote, “rooted more in trust than in treaty clauses.”
As leaders departed Ankara, the question remained: how long would the fragile unity last? With Trump’s next move—whether on trade, defense spending, or Ukraine—unpredictable, NATO’s future hinged on whether Europe could translate pledges into lasting action.
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