NATO leaders are set to gather in Ankara next week for a high-stakes summit aimed at reaffirming the alliance’s unity, boosting defence spending, and easing lingering tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump over issues ranging from Iran to Greenland.

The two-day meeting, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, comes at a crucial moment for the transatlantic alliance as European nations seek to demonstrate greater responsibility for their own security amid Washington’s gradual reduction of its commitments to NATO.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said the summit would showcase Europe’s determination to strengthen its defence capabilities and honour commitments to increase military spending in response to growing security threats, particularly from Russia.

According to Rutte, the gathering will also feature the signing of arms agreements worth tens of billions of dollars, underscoring NATO’s drive to enhance military readiness across the continent.

Leaders are expected to reaffirm their support for Ukraine by maintaining military assistance in its ongoing war against Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is scheduled to attend a dinner hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is also expected to hold separate talks with Trump on the sidelines of the summit.

European officials are hopeful that Trump’s close ties with both Erdogan and Rutte will help ensure a smooth meeting. However, concerns remain over unresolved disagreements stemming from the recent Iran conflict and Trump’s longstanding criticism of NATO allies.

In a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump renewed his complaints about the alliance, arguing that the United States spends heavily to protect NATO members without receiving sufficient benefits in return.

Despite the criticism, Rutte and other alliance leaders have maintained that NATO remains vital to U.S. security interests and have stressed that European countries are responding to Trump’s repeated demands for higher defence spending.

“The summit next week will focus on transforming increased spending into combat-ready capabilities and significantly expanding our defence industries,” Rutte said during a visit to Berlin.

He emphasised that NATO’s future remains firmly rooted in transatlantic cooperation while calling for a more balanced distribution of defence responsibilities.

“NATO is, and will always be, a transatlantic alliance, but we need to rebalance it for the better. Working closely with the United States, European allies and Canada are taking greater responsibility for conventional defence in Europe,” he said.

Rutte revealed that NATO’s European members and Canada collectively spent an additional $90 billion on defence in 2025 compared to the previous year, bringing their combined military expenditure to more than $570 billion.

The Ankara summit follows a landmark agreement reached by NATO leaders in The Hague in 2025, where member states committed to raising core defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP by 2035, up from the previous target of 2 per cent.

The alliance also agreed to dedicate an additional 1.5 per cent of GDP to broader security-related investments, including cybersecurity, infrastructure protection, and defence innovation, as NATO seeks to adapt to evolving global threats.