NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte visited US President Donald Trump at the White House ahead of the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, scheduled for 7 and 8 July.
During the press conference, Secretary-General Rutte praised President Trump for pressuring NATO allies to increase defence spending. He presented a chart showing that European NATO members and Canada had spent an additional $1.2 trillion on defence since Trump first took office in 2017.
The Ankara Summit is expected to focus on defence spending, burden-sharing, deterrence, NATO’s capability gaps, defence industrial production, and continued support for Ukraine. Secretary-General Rutte has been pushing allies to spend more and to spend better, arguing that NATO must build the forces and capabilities needed to defend every inch of allied territory.
Asked about Ankara’s request for F-35 fighter jets and F-110 jet engines, President Trump did not confirm an F-35 sale, but said Turkey was a strong NATO member and that he would “probably do something” to make Ankara happy. The more immediate move appears to be Washington’s plan to proceed with the sale of GE-made jet engines for Turkey’s KAAN fighter jet. Turkey’s return to the F-35 programme remains unresolved because of its purchase of the Russian S-400 air-defence system, which led Washington to remove Ankara from the programme.
Questioned on Ukraine, Trump said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was “doing pretty well” and “holding his own” against Russia. He also praised Zelensky’s courage and Ukraine’s military performance, saying: “You have to say he’s courageous. He’s got great equipment, but he’s got great men. He’s got fighters.”
Ukraine is hitting Russian targets with long-range drones and has struck Moscow’s oil refinery last week, causing widespread fuel shortages in Russia’s capital city. Ukraine is also doing marginal gains in the front-line and Crimea is also being struck with long-range drones effectively cutting off Russian logistics from the besieged peninsula.
You can watch the full press conference here.
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