NATO Leaders Pledge 5% of GDP to Defense as Trump Meets Zelensky in Ankara

ANKARA, Turkey — NATO leaders wrapped up their annual summit this week with a commitment to spend 5% of their economies on defense over the next decade, a landmark pledge that President Donald Trump had demanded and spent much of the two-day gathering trying to lock in.

Under the agreement reached in Ankara on July 7 and 8, member states set a target of devoting 3.5% of gross domestic product to core defense spending, with the remainder going to related expenses such as military infrastructure. The alliance also announced fresh investments it described as running into the "billions, literally billions," including a commitment to spend $40 billion on counter-drone capabilities over the next five years — a direct response to the swarming drone tactics that have reshaped the war in Ukraine.

Ukraine was again at the center of the talks. NATO members pledged 70 billion euros, about $80 billion, in support for Ukraine in 2026, and promised "at least equivalent levels" in 2027. Trump met on the sidelines Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a meeting confirmed in advance by Kyiv, as Russia pressed on with deadly strikes, including a barrage on the capital. Trump told reporters there had been "tremendous unity" at the summit and that member nations were moving toward the 5% goal.

The president also used the summit for a striking piece of diplomacy with a former U.S. adversary, meeting Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on the sidelines. The White House did not lay out specific goals for the encounter, but it came as Trump notified Congress of his decision to rescind Syria's designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism — a move that triggers a 45-day congressional review and signals a dramatic thaw with Damascus after more than a decade of war and isolation.

Yet the summit unfolded under the shadow of a rapidly escalating confrontation with Iran. Trump's declaration from the NATO stage that the ceasefire with Tehran was "over," coupled with a new round of U.S. strikes on more than 80 Iranian targets and reimposed oil sanctions, threatened to overshadow the carefully choreographed show of alliance solidarity. Crude prices jumped and equity markets fell as leaders in Ankara balanced their long-term defense planning against an acute crisis unfolding in real time.

For Trump, the spending pledge represents a concrete return on years of hectoring allies to shoulder more of the collective defense burden. For the alliance, the 5% target — far above the old 2% benchmark that many members struggled for years to meet — marks a generational shift in how much Europe and its partners intend to spend to deter Russia and confront a widening set of threats.