President Trump is expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at this week's NATO summit in Turkey as he makes a renewed push to end the war in Ukraine, according to a senior US official. The planned meeting places the conflict at the centre of Trump's agenda for the gathering, which is being hosted in Ankara and will bring together the alliance's leaders.
The official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, said Trump is scheduled to arrive at the summit on Tuesday. His first meeting is due to be with the summit host, the Turkish president. According to the White House, Trump will also meet the Syrian president during the visit and hold a news conference, adding several high-profile encounters to his schedule in Ankara.
The meeting with Zelensky is planned for Wednesday, when the two are expected to discuss, in the official's words, how the war can be ended. The official said the battlefield has clearly frozen over the last couple of months, with neither side making much progress, and that the president feels a real sense of urgency to try to bring the fighting to a stop.
Beyond Ukraine, Trump is expected to press the alliance on money. The official said the president will urge NATO allies to increase their defense spending and will deliver that message in person at the summit. NATO has set a target for members to spend 5% of their GDP on defense by 2035, made up of 3.5% for core military needs such as weapons and munitions and a further 1.5% for areas like cybersecurity and other infrastructure. All 32 members are reported to have now passed the earlier 2% benchmark, with attention turning to the higher goal that Trump has pushed for.
The official also indicated that the summit could produce concrete agreements, saying that defense-related deals worth billions of dollars would be announced during the gathering, though without providing much detail. Such announcements would underline the commercial as well as the strategic dimension of the meeting for the countries involved.
European officials say they hope Trump's strong relationship with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will help ensure a smooth summit. However, the Europeans remain uncertain because of lingering transatlantic tension over the recent war with Iran and the US president's frequent criticism of NATO. Trump has complained that alliance members did not do more to help the United States during that conflict.
The summit diplomacy follows direct contact between Trump and Moscow. On Saturday, the US leader spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin for about 90 minutes and offered to help find a solution to the war in Ukraine, according to Kremlin aide Ushakov. Trump has previously lamented the scale of death and destruction on both sides of the conflict, framing his summit push as an effort to move toward an end to the fighting.