Arriving early for the summit, Nato’s Rutte said the meeting was “about implementation, about getting it done” after last year’s push to increase defence spending.
He said that European allies and Canada were “stepping up” with more money, more jobs, and more capacity, but there is still more to be done.
“If you look at it from the United States perspective, you will have European allies which are much more capable, with the US, to work together in Nato to keep one billion people safe,” he said, repeatedly praising Trump for pushing Europe to do more.
Rutte also said the meeting was about reiterating the alliance’s support for Ukraine, expecting the leaders to agree on “a strong commitment to keep supporting Ukraine.”
He said he expected the leaders to “acknowledge collectively that Russia is the long-term threat” to Nato.
Let’s see how it all unfolds with grumpy Trump in the audience though.
Nato leaders are meeting in Ankara, Turkey today for what was meant to be a “Trump-proof” summit: short and sweet, with little space for any drama or outbursts from the notoriously unpredictable US president.
Yeah, good luck with that.
Even before the summit proper began, Trump lashed out against several Nato allies saying he was “very disappointed” that “they were not there” for the US on Iran, threatened to pull out US troops from Europe, and repeated his claim that Greenland should be controlled by the US, not Denmark.
That’s a good start.
Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen was forced to say this morning that her country was “ready to defend” Greenland if needed, reiterating the territory was “not for sale.”
Expect more of the same today, as Trump is due to show up shortly, accompanied by secretary general Mark Rutte, who has the impossible job of keeping him on side.
The formal welcome ceremony gets under way shortly at 10:45am Turkish time (that’s 8:45am UK time, and 9:45am CEST), where we will get all sorts of official photos.
The proper session starts at 11.15 (9:15am UK), and will last only for a few hours. We are then going to hear from leaders about how well (or not) it went.
I will bring you all the latest here.
It’s Wednesday, 8 July 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: theguardian.com
