Five key takeaways from the NATO summit in Ankara
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- NATO closed its two-day Ankara summit pledging 70 billion euros ($80bn) in military assistance for Ukraine and committing to expand defence spending, including more than $50 billion in new procurements covering air and missile defence, uncrewed systems, and AI capabilities.
- Donald Trump declared the US memorandum of understanding with Iran "over" after the US launched dozens of strikes on Iranian targets early Wednesday, claiming retaliation for Tehran's attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, though he later said he did not think war would restart.
- NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte defended the US strikes as "absolutely necessary," saying Iran was "basically violating the ceasefire," while NATO's final declaration called on Iran to respect freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and reiterated that Iran must not acquire a nuclear weapon.
- Ukraine secured a US commitment to license domestic production of Patriot missile systems, with Trump telling Zelenskyy "we'll show them how to do it" during a bilateral meeting; Zelenskyy also announced inked bilateral drone deals with several nations.
- Greenland tensions resurfaced as Trump repeatedly claimed the territory is "very important" for the US, prompting Danish PM Mette Frederiksen to declare "Greenland is not for sale" and the EU to affirm the territory's future belongs to Greenlanders and Danes.
- Spain became a specific target of Trump's anger, with the US president calling it a "wasted cause" and ordering Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to "cut off" trade; he also labelled the UK's refusal to join the Iran war "weird" and "not in the spirit of Winston Churchill."
- NATO members remain far from the alliance's stated goals: only five of 32 members are projected to meet the 3.5% GDP core defence spending target in 2026, with the average for NATO Europe and Canada sitting at 2.53% so far this year.
Why it matters: For Kyiv, the summit delivered $80 billion in pledged NATO aid and a US licence to produce Patriot missiles domestically — concrete wins overshadowed by Trump's public denunciations of Spain and the UK. Behind the unity messaging, only five of 32 NATO members are projected to meet the 3.5% GDP defence spending goal in 2026, quantifying how far allies remain from the 'transformation' Rutte claimed.
