NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte gestures during the press conference ahead of the NATO summit 2026 in Ankara, Turkey, July 6. EPA-Yonhap
ANKARA — NATO allies will showcase surging defence spending at a summit in Turkey's capital Ankara on Tuesday as they hope to placate U.S. President Donald Trump after his fury over Europe's response to the war with Iran.
The two-day gathering at Turkey's sprawling presidential palace comes a year after NATO members pledged to ramp up security-related spending to five percent of GDP under pressure from the U.S. leader.
NATO chief Mark Rutte insists European countries are "delivering" on their promise by bolstering military budgets and moving to take more responsibility for the defence of their continent in the face of Russia.
"Just one year later, we already see transformational progress," Rutte told journalists in Ankara on the eve of the summit.
