Five key takeaways from the NATO summit in Ankara

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit has come to a close in Turkiye’s capital.

The two-day conference arrived at a particularly tumultuous time for the alliance, following the United States and Israel’s three-month war on Iran, US President Donald Trump’s habitual denigrations of allies, and escalating fears in Europe over Russia’s military capabilities.

As expected, NATO defence budgets and support for Ukraine topped the agenda, with the alliance pledging ۷۰ billion euros ($۸۰bn) in assistance to Kyiv and promising to keep expanding defence spending.

“What this leads to is a NATO which is truly transformed,” said Secretary General Mark Rutte Wednesday. “If you look at it from the United States perspective, you will have European allies which are much more capable to, with the US, work together in NATO to keep one billion people safe.”

Trump meanwhile hailed a “very successful” summit characterised by “tremendous unity”, while host Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the meetings “historic”.

But the conference was also roiled by unexpected ruptures – namely Trump declaring that Washington’s memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Tehran was “over” and asserting, after months of relative quiet on the topic, that the US should control Greenland.

Here are five key takeaways from the summit:

Trump says MoU with Iran is ‘over’

The Iran war already loomed large over the summit as one of the primary causes of recent strains between the US and its allies.

But the fragility of the ceasefire itself took centre stage after the US launched dozens of strikes on Iran early Wednesday, claiming retaliation for Tehran’s attacks on commercial ships the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump told reporters Wednesday morning that the MoU with Tehran was “over” before firing off a series of insults.

“They’re led by sick people. They’re vicious, violent people, and if they had a nuclear weapon, they’d use it,” the US president said. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s over.”

In his final remarks later that day, however, Trump said he did not think the war would start in earnest again, adding that the US is “not looking for long-term” conflict.

Back home in Washington, critics of the war on Iran were quick to accuse Trump of botching the talks. But NATO’s Rutte told reporters the strikes were “absolutely necessary”.

“Iran is basically violating the ceasefire,” he said. “We see what happened yesterday with ships being attacked. I think it is totally crucial that the US forcefully reacts.”

NATO’s final declaration called on Iran to respect freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, and reiterated that Iran must not be permitted to acquire a nuclear weapon.

Defence spending

Under escalating pressure from Trump, NATO leaders agreed to increase defence spending and develop the alliance’s military-industrial capacities, including air and missile defence.

The commitments included “more than $۵۰ billion in new procurements”, the NATO declaration said, with an eye to “deep precision strike, integrated air and missile defence, uncrewed systems, cutting edge technologies, and intelligence capabilities”. It also cited “an interoperable transatlantic warfighting cloud and adopting powerful AI models”.

Still, NATO data shows that only five of NATO’s ۳۲ members are projected to meet the alliance’s goal of spending ۳.۵ percent of their gross domestic product on core defence in ۲۰۲۶.  

Members agreed to hike core spending up from ۲ percent during a summit in The Hague last year, while also spending ۱.۵ percent of GDP on broader defence-related investments. Seventeen members are projected to hit the ۱.۵ percent goal.

The average core defence expenditure in NATO Europe and Canada was ۲.۳ percent of GDP in ۲۰۲۵, which climbed to ۲.۵۳ so far in ۲۰۲۶. The US reported ۳.۱۷ percent.

Trump said at the summit’s close that some countries are “making great progress”.

“Many of these countries are very rich, by the way, we don’t have to feel sorry for them,” he said, adding that several “have truly answered the call”.

Reporting from Ankara, Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid said that Trump appeared “satisfied” with NATO’s response.

Ukraine assistance

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy conducted a relentless series of meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday as he rallied support for Ukraine, which is not a NATO member.

The alliance dedicated a sizable chunk of its declaration to Ukraine and the wider threat posed by Russia, pledging ۷۰ billion euros ($۸۰bn) in military equipment, assistance and training for Ukraine and affirming “sovereign commitments to sustaining at least equivalent levels in ۲۰۲۷”.

NATO said the allies “stand united in our unwavering support for Ukraine in defending its freedom, sovereignty, and territorial integrity”.

The summit also saw some bonhomie between Zelenskyy and Trump, who addressed reporters together ahead of a meeting on the sidelines.

Trump said the US would give Ukraine the right to produce Patriot missile systems, which are expensive and in high demand.

Such a move would be a huge boost for Kyiv, which recently asked for a licence to manufacture the missiles domestically in Ukraine.

“We’ll show them how to do it,” Trump said. “I think they can produce them pretty quickly.”

Zelenskyy wrote on X after the meeting that he was “grateful”, saying that he and Trump “spoke about some ⁠ideas that could strengthen ⁠our positions and bring peace closer”.

Zelenskyy also said he inked bilateral drone deals with several nations, with more under way.

Renewed tensions over Greenland

The war on Iran seemed to have briefly quelled Trump’s quest to take over Greenland, the autonomous Danish territory in the Arctic.

Yet he returned to his Greenland refrain throughout the two-day summit, claiming Greenland is “very important” for the US “but it’s not important for Denmark”.

“In fact, when Denmark was overrun by the Nazis in less than one day – Hitler beat them out in one day, took over – they ‌asked ‌us to take care of Greenland. In fact, we took Greenland, and then stupidly, we gave it back,” Trump said.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen reiterated on several occasions that Greenland is not for sale. “We are ready to defend every inch of NATO, including our own territory,” she said.

The EU also waded in to affirm that “decisions about the future of Greenland are for Greenlanders and Danes”.

“Territorial integrity, national sovereignty and inviolability of borders are fundamental principles of international law,” EU spokesman Olof Gill said.

Nonetheless, Rutte said Trump “has a point” that China and Russia are seeking increasing sway in the Arctic.

“So, it is crucial that, as an Alliance – and this is what we agreed in Davos – work together to make sure that doesn’t happen,” he said.

Trump rails against response to war on Iran

Although he lavished praise on his host, Turkiye’s Erdogan, the US president used most of his media appearances to bash other allies who he said were unhelpful in the US-Israel war on Iran.

“I’m very upset with NATO,” he told reporters ahead of Wednesday’s main session, adding that members “didn’t want to help us with the number one state sponsor of terror, that’s Iran”.

“Spain is a wasted cause. We don’t want to do any trade business with Spain any more,” he said, telling Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to “cut it off”.

Trump continued to lay into Spain throughout the day, declaring Madrid “has been very bad”. He also singled out the United Kingdom.

Unlike Spain, which did not authorise the US to use its bases for operations against Iran, Downing Street said in March Washington could use its bases “in the collective self-defence of the region”.

Still, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer repeatedly said the UK would not get pulled into the war.

Trump called the UK’s approach “weird”.

“This is not in the spirit of Winston Churchill,” Trump said.