Trump heads to Turkey as Russia strikes Ukraine, NATO summit opens

Russian strikes on Kyiv killed civilians on the eve of NATO’s summit in Ankara, putting the war in Ukraine at the center of Donald Trump’s trip to Turkey. The meeting at the Beştepe Presidential Complex runs July 7-8 and will review progress since last year’s summit in The Hague and set a roadmap for the alliance’s next steps.

Moscow is continuing its military assault on Ukraine, and Washington is pressing European allies to move faster on defense spending. The alliance’s 32 members agreed last year to invest 5% of gross domestic product on defense, and some members are already on track to reach that target in 2026, far ahead of schedule. The agenda in Ankara centers on defense investment, defense-industrial production and support for Ukraine.

His criticism of NATO, his announcement of U.S. troop withdrawals from Europe and his pressure on allies to shoulder more of the burden have fueled tensions over burden-sharing, while disputes over the Iran war and Greenland have widened friction across the Atlantic. Secretary-General Mark Rutte has urged allies to show credible plans to meet their targets.

He is expected to meet Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines. It will be the first visit by a U.S. president to Turkey since Barack Obama in 2015 and only the second NATO summit ever hosted by Türkiye, after Istanbul in 2004. Trump is prepared to restore Turkey’s access to the F-35 fighter jet program, which Washington cut off after Ankara bought Russia’s S-400 air-defense system. Legal restrictions could still block an immediate return.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also expected in Ankara, and the Ukrainian president said he discussed the frontline situation with Trump before the summit and would continue those talks there.