The NATO summit in the Netherlands’ The Hague was set to conclude on Wednesday with a pledge on increasing defense budgets of the top security alliance as conflicts rage on across the world. From the U.S. president to Ukraine’s leader, heads of state and government streamed into the meeting held under the shadow of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and tension between Iran and Israel.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was among the leaders under the spotlight at the summit and stood next to U.S. President Donald Trump during a photo shoot at the summit, while the two leaders shared the same table at a dinner on Tuesday hosted by Dutch royalty. Commanders-in-chief of NATO’s two biggest armies also held a bilateral meeting on Tuesday. Türkiye will host the next summit of NATO heads of state and government in 2026, as reaffirmed in the declaration of the summit.
Erdoğan also held bilateral talks on Wednesday on the sidelines of the summit, including with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Speaking to reporters in Ankara on Tuesday before leaving for the summit, Erdoğan said his country strongly supported fair burden-sharing and the strengthening of European security, adding that Türkiye operates NATO's second-largest land army and contributes significantly to the alliance's deterrent power.
He criticized trade restrictions among NATO members in the defense sector, saying such barriers must be removed immediately. "As we set out with the goal of a stronger defense and a more effective military, we do not find it right to raise obstacles to trade in defense products between allies. These obstacles and restrictions should be removed as soon as possible, without ifs or buts."
"In this context, we closely follow the recent initiatives of the European Union in the field of defense and security. Our country, which contributes more to Europe's security than many of its members combined, should be properly included in the union's defense initiatives. The inclusion of the Turkish defense sector in the union's defense mechanisms and projects will benefit all of Europe. We are in close consultation with our non-EU allies on this,” he added.
During their meeting, Erdoğan and Trump underscored the importance of strengthening NATO’s deterrence as two of the alliance’s leading members. 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. 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.
Trump took a victory lap at the summit Wednesday, joining leaders in reaffirming the "ironclad" commitment to protect each other after allies agreed to his demand to ramp up defense spending.
Speaking at a news conference after the meeting of the heads of state and government concluded, NATO chief Mark Rutte said the agreement of states would lead to a “quantum leap” in collective defense. He also assured NATO’s support for Ukraine on its “irreversible path to membership.”
The unpredictable U.S. leader appeared keen to take the plaudits as he secured a key foreign policy win by getting NATO's 32 countries to agree to meet his headline target of 5% of GDP on defense spending.
In a move that will provide reassurance to allies in Europe worried over the threat from Russia, Trump signed off on a final leaders' declaration confirming "our ironclad commitment" to NATO's collective defense pledge that an attack on one is an attack on all.
"It's a great victory for everybody, I think, and we will be equalized," Trump said of the new spending commitment, ahead of the summit's main session.
Diplomats said that behind closed doors, Trump insisted there was no greater ally than Washington and urged others to spend some of the new money on U.S. weaponry.
The deal hatched by NATO is a compromise that allows Trump to claim triumph, while in reality providing wiggle room for cash-strapped governments in Europe.
It sees countries promise to dedicate 3.5% of GDP to core military spending by 2035, and a further 1.5% to broader security-related areas such as infrastructure.
Entering the meeting, leaders lined up to declare the summit's spending hike as "historic."
NATO allies say the increase is needed to counter a growing threat from Russia but also to keep Trump engaged, with the U.S. leader long complaining that Europe spends too little on its own defense.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said: "As Europeans, we should realize that our long break from history is over."
The continent needed to take responsibility for its own security "in a very difficult time," added De Wever.
Everything was carefully choreographed at the gathering in The Hague to keep the volatile U.S. president on board: from chopping back the official part of the meeting to putting him up overnight in the royal palace.
Trump rattled his allies by appearing to cast some doubt on the validity of NATO's mutual defense clause, known as Article 5 of the alliance treaty, telling reporters on the way to The Hague that it "depends on your definition. There are numerous definitions of Article 5."
But Rutte insisted Trump remained "totally committed" to the pledge, which was reaffirmed unequivocally in the summit's final statement.
Underpinning the leaders' discussions on defense was Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, and in another sop to the demands of allies, the United States allowed NATO to refer to the "long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security" in the communique.
Though its language was watered down from previous years, the declaration also said allies would continue to support Ukraine, "whose security contributes to ours," and could use money from the new spending pledge to fund military aid for Kyiv.
That came as Trump was poised to meet the war-torn country's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on the summit sidelines.
Zelenskyy is playing a less central role here than at previous summits, to avoid a bust-up with Trump after their infamous Oval Office shouting match.
But Trump described him as a "nice guy" and added that he was talking to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the war, saying: "I think progress is being made."
But despite Rutte's insistence that Ukraine's bid for membership remains "irreversible," NATO's statement avoided any mention of Kyiv's push to join after Trump ruled it out.
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban was more categorical.
"NATO has no business in Ukraine," he said. "My job is to keep it as it is."
Türkiye, as of 2024, exceeded 2% defense spending per NATO figures, in proportion to its GDP. On the southeastern flank of the alliance’s European wing, the country serves as a gateway to the Middle East where conflicts are brewing, while also serving as a bridge between the West and the East, something that came in handy amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
It is one of the few countries maintaining solid ties with both sides of the conflict and recently hosted talks between the warring parties in a bid to utilize diplomacy to end the conflict. Türkiye’s flourishing defense industry, particularly the international success of its unmanned aerial vehicles, also makes the country stand out among NATO members.
European countries recently agreed to involve Türkiye in efforts to reinforce the bloc's defense amid the perceived threat from Russia. Turkish defense firms will likely benefit from the new security mechanism created by the European Union, which has long dragged out Türkiye’s membership process.
