President Trump departs for Ankara on Monday evening for a two-day NATO Summit that includes bilateral sit-downs with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. The meetings, confirmed by White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly in a July 5 call with reporters, represent one of the most diplomatically loaded weeks of 2026.
The NATO Summit runs July 7-8, marking the second time Turkey has hosted the event since 2004. Trump’s itinerary starts with a discussion with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before the higher-profile meetings with Zelensky and al-Sharaa on Wednesday.
A senior US official indicated that Trump plans to discuss strategies to “end the war” during his session with Zelensky. The summit arrives on the heels of communications between Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Zelensky that took place on or around July 4. Those pre-summit calls suggest the groundwork for some kind of framework may already be in progress.
Including Syria’s al-Sharaa in the schedule adds another dimension. The meeting signals Washington’s broader engagement with Middle Eastern power dynamics alongside the European security agenda, giving the summit a geopolitical footprint that extends well beyond NATO’s traditional scope.
