President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday underscored the importance of strengthening NATO’s deterrence as two of the alliance’s leading members, during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit in The Hague.
Welcoming the recently brokered cease-fire between Israel and Iran, Erdoğan praised Trump’s efforts in facilitating the truce and expressed hope that it would be sustained. He underscored the urgent need to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and reaffirmed Türkiye’s readiness to engage in close dialogue for peaceful solutions to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Both leaders also emphasized the importance of strengthening NATO’s deterrent power and reaffirmed their countries' commitment as leading allies within the alliance.
The meeting came on the first day of the two-day NATO summit, which is being hosted by Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima and brings together more than 45 world leaders and dignitaries to address strategic risks facing the Euro-Atlantic region.
During the meeting, Erdoğan also highlighted the strong potential for cooperation between Türkiye and the United States, particularly in energy and investment. He emphasized that advancing defense industry ties would support the two countries’ shared goal of reaching a $100 billion bilateral trade volume.
Before flying to the Netherlands for a leaders’ summit of NATO, Erdoğan said they welcomed the cease-fire between Iran and Israel after days of reciprocal attacks. He underlined that diplomacy should be given a chance in the process.
Leaders of NATO's 32 member states are gathering in The Hague on June 24-25 for the summit dominated by debates over increased defense spending and Ukraine's membership bid.
