The final day of the NATO summit in Ankara, on July 8, opened in a tense atmosphere.
Overnight, the United States had resumed strikes on Iran after a fragile ceasefire collapsed.
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The clash sent shockwaves across the Alliance, as US President Donald Trump targeted European allies over their lack of support and cast doubt on their “loyalty.”
At a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on July 8, Trump again attacked European countries, saying they had delayed or obstructed the use of their bases by US aircraft during the strikes against Iran.
He described the Iranian regime as “liars” and “scum,” also declaring that the agreement with it “is over.”
The US president also leveled accusations at Spain, the country that had publicly criticized the war and spends less on defense than NATO targets require, suggesting that Madrid could face a trade embargo.
Trump also repeated the aim he had announced earlier this year to take control of the Danish territory of Greenland.
From the scenes outside the entrance to the hall, the impression was that European leaders were going into the meeting worried and expecting a difficult development.
However, inside the hall the picture turned out to be completely different.
NATO diplomats, who spoke to Radio Free Europe on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said the US president was in a good mood and behaved far more diplomatically.
According to them, in front of the other 31 leaders he did not repeat his comments about Spain, Greenland, or Iran.
At the end of the meeting, Trump said there was “extraordinary unity” at the summit, while Mark Rutte described the summit in Ankara as “an extraordinary success,” speaking of “a strong sense of unity” among the allies.
Regarding Iran, the summit’s final declaration, approved by all leaders, underscores that “Iran must never possess nuclear weapons” and reiterates the demand that Tehran fully respect freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
Although there was dissatisfaction in Washington over the hesitation of some European states to support the US in the conflict with Iran, Rutte stressed that in recent months US forces have carried out more than 5,000 military flights from air bases in Europe.
One of the issues that dominated the summit was also the level of defense spending by European countries and Canada, a subject that has long been at the center of criticism from the White House and Trump himself.
After the meeting, NATO proudly announced that the other 31 allies together had increased defense spending by $139 billion over the past year, a rise for which Rutte credited President Trump.
At the NATO summit held last year in The Hague, there had been uncertainty over whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would attend.
At the time, expectations of Ukraine’s rapid move closer to the Alliance had faded, while Zelensky lacked support in the White House after a tense meeting with Trump that ended humiliatingly for him.
In just one year, the picture had changed significantly.
This time, there was no doubt that Zelensky would be invited to Ankara.
Although the final declaration still does not pave the way for Ukraine’s NATO membership, it says that “Ukraine contributes to transatlantic security.”
The document also includes the allies’ commitment to provide Kyiv with 70 billion euros in military aid during 2026, as well as at least the same level of support in 2027, although a large part of this amount does not consist of new funds.
The United States will not make a financial contribution to this package, but it may have offered Ukraine one of the most important gifts: permission to produce Patriot missiles in Ukraine, a request Kyiv has long made because of the increase in Russian attacks on civilian targets.
Speaking alongside Zelensky, Trump said that “we will show Ukraine how to produce Patriot missiles,” although the formal procedures for this still have to be completed.
Before the bilateral meeting after the summit, Trump and Zelensky appeared together before the media and gave the impression of a clearly better relationship than before.
Trump said they “have built a good relationship,” praised the Ukrainian military for its “extraordinary work” and its “bravery,” suggested that he may soon visit Kyiv, which he called “a beautiful city,” and also expressed interest in cooperating with Ukraine in drone production.
He also praised the “intellectual capacity” of the Ukrainian delegation present at the meeting and spoke of the great potential that, in his view, Ukraine would have if the war ended quickly.
This was one of the summit’s most promising elements.
However, Zelensky appeared less pleased when Trump, unexpectedly, praised Polish President Karol Nawrocki, who recently stripped Zelensky of Poland’s highest political decoration after a sharp clash between the two countries that endangered Ukrainian-Polish relations.
The US president said there are “very few differences” between the peoples of Ukraine and Russia, that he speaks more often with Vladimir Putin than with Zelensky, and that the Russian president is “a difficult character,” but that, in his view, so is Zelensky.
Still, it was Zelensky who drew the biggest laughs from the journalists present.
When Trump said that Putin had proposed a meeting in Moscow to discuss ending the war, Zelensky replied ironically that traveling there would be dangerous, because many Ukrainian drones fly over the city.
As for the next summit in Tirana, this was perhaps not the most important part of the Ankara Declaration, but it was undoubtedly one of the most unusual.
Usually, the final declarations of NATO summits end by announcing the place where the next meeting will be held.
This time, however, the document was limited to the sentence: “We look forward to our next meeting.” No further details were given.
At last year’s summit in The Hague, it had been determined that the following summit would be held in Turkey, and that Albania would then take its turn.
This was also confirmed by NATO Secretary General Rutte at the closing press conference, when he said: “The next summit will be held in Albania. That was the decision taken in The Hague. Now we need to decide the exact date.”
But there are two reasons why this issue remains unclear.
The first has to do with dissatisfaction within the Alliance, as some countries believe that a state that has recently once again fallen below the 2% of Gross Domestic Product threshold for defense spending should not host a NATO summit.
Tirana has promised that it will soon approve a budget providing for increased investment in defense.
The second reason is linked to the desire of some member states to return to the practice of holding NATO summits every two years, arguing that it is difficult to make important political decisions every year.
For the moment, it is known that the next summit will take place in Albania. However, it remains unclear whether it will be held in the summer of 2027, in the autumn of that year, or postponed until 2028./RFE
