Today, the NATO summit begins in Ankara, the capital of Turkey.
Modern.az reports that US President Donald Trump will also attend the summit, which will be attended by leaders of 32 member countries.
The main agenda of the summit will be the war in Ukraine, increasing Europe's defense spending, expanding NATO's military production capabilities, and transferring the security burden within the Alliance from the US to Europe.
Washington has long demanded that European countries allocate more funds for defense. The US administration also plans to significantly reduce its military contingent in Europe.
According to information, in the final declaration of the summit, European allies and Canada will emphasize an increase of 139 billion dollars in their defense investments, and will also declare that they will take greater responsibility for NATO's defense. Leaders will also confirm their commitment to increase member countries' defense spending to 5 percent of GDP by 2035.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Council Antonio Costa, President of South Korea Lee Jae-myung, and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky will also participate in the summit.
The ongoing war against Ukraine will be one of the main topics of the summit. After the attacks carried out by the Russian army in recent days on Kyiv with ballistic and cruise missiles, "Zircon" missiles, and hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles, it is expected that the issue of strengthening Ukraine's air defense will be specifically discussed.
According to US officials, Donald Trump will hold a bilateral meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky within the framework of the summit. It is reported that Trump will present his vision for a possible peace agreement with Russia to the Ukrainian leader during the meeting. After the summit, Trump is expected to have a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In addition, according to The Telegraph, Zelensky will not speak at the main plenary session of the NATO summit, unlike in previous years.
According to expectations, NATO members will once again confirm their support for Ukraine at the end of the summit. It is planned that individual allied countries will announce that they will allocate a total of 70 billion euros for military equipment, training, and other support to Ukraine in 2026, and that this level of assistance is aimed to be maintained in 2027. The US is reportedly not participating in this funding.
According to the summit program, this afternoon, Volodymyr Zelensky and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will make a joint brief statement. In the evening, the President of Ukraine will participate in an official reception and dinner organized by the Turkish and NATO leadership.
At the same time, a meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council at the level of foreign ministers, as well as a meeting of NATO defense ministers with the participation of Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, are also planned.
