NATO opens Ankara summit with spending, Ukraine and airlift plans in focus
NATO leaders are meeting in Ankara as the alliance presses members on defence spending, Ukraine support and new aircraft purchases.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
NATO opened a two-day leaders’ summit in Ankara with defence spending, arms production and long-term military help for Ukraine at the center of the agenda. The meeting matters because the alliance is trying to show US President Donald Trump that European members are acting on past commitments to spend more on defence.
Leaders from NATO’s 32 member states, including Trump, are attending the summit, Al Jazeera reported. NATO says the formal agenda is built around three priorities: higher defence investment, expansion of Europe’s defence industrial base and continued support for Ukraine.
According to NATO, European leaders are seeking to demonstrate progress on a pledge made at last year’s summit in The Hague to spend 5 percent of gross domestic product on defence and defence-related measures by 2035. The alliance is also hosting a defence industry forum in Ankara on Tuesday, where deals worth tens of billions of dollars are due to be announced, Al Jazeera reported.
Rutte announces aircraft plans
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said at the Ankara summit that the alliance will create a strategic airlift fleet using A400M transport aircraft. He also said NATO will add one aircraft to its existing A330 MRTT tanker and transport fleet.
Rutte said allies will also buy up to 10 Saab Globaleye surveillance aircraft. According to his announcement, those aircraft are meant to replace NATO’s ageing AWACS fleet.
The aircraft moves point to a broader effort to improve NATO’s ability to move troops and equipment, refuel aircraft and monitor airspace. NATO has tied those goals to its push for higher spending and greater industrial output across the alliance.
Ukraine and partner countries on the schedule
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to join NATO leaders for dinner in Ankara, Al Jazeera reported. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are also expected at the dinner.
NATO foreign ministers are due to meet counterparts from Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates while in Ankara, according to Al Jazeera. They are also expected to hold a dinner discussion with Ukraine’s foreign minister and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
NATO defence ministers are set to hold talks with ministers from Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, Al Jazeera reported. Those meetings widen the summit beyond the alliance’s formal membership as NATO links its defence planning with partners in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific.
The summit is taking place in Turkey’s capital under close attention from allies and partners watching Washington’s position under Trump. NATO’s published summit overview says the gathering will focus on investment, industry and Ukraine, areas that have become central to alliance planning since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.