NATO allies set out a more European alliance at Ankara summit

NATO allies gathered in Ankara on Tuesday and said Europe must shoulder more of the alliance’s conventional defense without fraying the U.S. security umbrella that has anchored the bloc for 75 years.

The summit at Türkiye’s Beştepe Presidential Compound runs July 7-8 and is the second NATO summit hosted by Türkiye, after Istanbul in 2004. At the 2025 Hague summit, allies pledged to spend 5% of GDP annually on defense and security-related needs by 2035, including at least 3.5% for core defense requirements and NATO capability targets, plus as much as 1.5% for resilience, infrastructure, innovation and the defense industrial base.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte pressed allies to arrive with “clear, concrete, and credible plans” to reach that target, and the summit in Ankara focused on turning those commitments into deliverable military output. The agenda put Ukraine near the top, with NATO leaders expected to reaffirm support as Russia’s war continues and to push faster defense-industrial production across Europe and North America.

Months of transatlantic friction have followed Donald Trump’s criticism of NATO, his pressure on Europe to spend more, announced U.S. troop withdrawals from Europe, and disputes over the Iran war and Greenland. U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker called the tensions “growing pains” and said the objective is for Europe to take over the conventional defense of the continent while the United States does less.

Arms deals worth tens of billions of dollars were unveiled in Turkey. NATO’s 32 member states are represented at the summit, and a Defence Industry Forum held in Ankara on July 7 brought officials, industry leaders and innovators together.