US President Donald Trump and his NATO colleagues are gathering in Turkey today for a two-day summit, which comes at a crucial moment in the organization's history as the US withdraws from its traditional security role in Europe, BTA writes, citing the AP.
Before the Ankara meeting, Trump urged "loyalty" after some NATO countries resisted allowing US forces to use their bases to strike Iran. He criticized major European member states – Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
The NATO summit is a highly symbolic moment, when the 32 member states of the world’s largest military alliance underline their unwavering commitment to their mutual security. But this year, the transatlantic bond has rarely looked more fragile.
Yet the meeting is organised around the theme of a stronger Europe in a stronger NATO. The Trump administration has called for a recharge towards "NATO 3.0", but what that actually means will become clearer over the next two days.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is hosting the summit at his sprawling "Bestepe" presidential complex in the western part of the Turkish capital, Ankara. A new airport, converted from an old military airport, has been opened specifically to welcome the NATO leaders.
Security measures will be tightened. Air defenses are on high alert, and tens of thousands of police will be mobilized for the event. Nearby neighborhoods have been closed to traffic, and some civil servants have been given the day off to help relieve traffic. Public gatherings are banned.
More than a dozen people were detained in security operations on the eve of the summit, including two journalists, the Turkish Journalists Association said.
Erdogan will host a dinner at his "Winter Garden" tonight. Senior officials from Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand will join their NATO partners. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is also expected to attend.
During the dinner, foreign ministers will hold a meeting of the NATO Council on Ukraine, and the alliance's defense ministers will meet with their counterparts from the Indo-Pacific region. There will also be a separate meeting with representatives of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, and Trump will meet with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Zelensky.
The leaders of NATO member states will hold a working session tomorrow morning. After it is concluded, they will issue a short statement summarizing the results of their meeting.
Officially at the top of the agenda is the issue of defense spending - a perennial topic in NATO, as the United States pushes allies to spend more. Ahead of the summit, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte noted that European allies and Canada had increased their spending by 20 percent year-on-year last year.
That is unlikely to be enough to satisfy Trump’s wishes, even after leaders agreed at their last summit to increase investment to the same level as the United States, expressed as a percentage of GDP. The U.S. military budget for this year is set at $901 billion, or about 3.3 percent of GDP.
NATO is also keen to highlight how it is turning billions flowing from state coffers into new military equipment adapted to modern warfare. The summit will be an opportunity for the alliance to showcase new military projects.
A defense industry forum will be held as part of the meeting today, bringing together senior NATO and partner officials with defense industry representatives as allies push to increase weapons production and spur innovation in new technologies.
Another important item on the agenda is continued support for Ukraine, which is now in its fifth year of full-scale war with Russia. European allies and Canada fund the bulk of Ukraine's needs, including covering about 90 percent of the country's air defense costs.
The working session is expected to last only about three hours, but most of the debate is likely to focus on the size of US troops in Europe and on a topic not on the agenda - the consequences of a possible US-Israeli war against Iran.
European allies and Canada will want reassurances, or at least clarity, about the US’s intentions regarding US military forces abroad. Since the beginning of last year, they have often been surprised, and sometimes confused, by Trump’s statements about reducing the number of troops abroad.
Ahead of the summit, the Pentagon surprised allies by announcing a six-month review of the US presence. It focuses on the progress Europe is making on its defense, but also on whether the US has full access to military bases and airspace.
NATO played no active role in the war with Iran and does not have a comprehensive agreement with the US on the joint use of military bases and airspace, although some of its members do.
In a public meeting with Rutte on June 24, Trump renewed his criticism of allies for their reluctance to join the war. "We don't need their money – we don't need anything", the US president said, adding: "I just want loyalty".
When joining NATO, member countries pledge loyalty to each other through a commitment to collective security – the "all for one, one for all" promise enshrined in Article 5 of the NATO Treaty. This guarantee itself is the foundation of everything the organization stands for and does.
It is unclear, however, what additional loyalty Trump might demand at the upcoming NATO summit.