NATO to unveil big arms deals in Ankara before summit with Trump

• Summary

• Netherlands expected to announce more than €3 billion of deals and plans

• Officials fear Trump could revive threats to quit NATO or ignore mutual defence commitments

• NATO plans to replace its ageing AWACS fleet with Saab's GlobalEye

ANKARA, July 7 (Reuters) - NATO leaders plan to unveil arms deals ​worth tens of billions of dollars in Ankara on Tuesday to show they are heeding U.S. calls to spend ‌more to defend Europe before joining President Donald Trump for a summit.

European governments will announce the deals at a NATO defence industry forum before Trump flies in to meet Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and join fellow leaders of the military alliance for the summit, which begins with a dinner on Tuesday evening.

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NATO Secretary General Mark ​Rutte said on Monday Europeans had made “staggering” increases in defence spending in part due to fears of Russia, which have surged ​since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but also because Trump had been “extremely forceful” in encouraging them to do ⁠so.

Trump has long accused European governments of over-relying on the U.S. to defend them through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which has protected ​the continent since the early years of the Cold War.

“We are now creating an alliance which is sustainable, where the U.S. knows it ​is a fair deal,” Rutte told reporters in Ankara on the eve of the summit.

Rutte said last month that NATO's European members and Canada spent $90 billion more on defence in real terms in 2025 than in 2024, to reach a total of more than $570 billion - an increase of around 20% in a single year.

IRAN ​WAR PROMPTED TRUMP TO REVIVE CRITICISM OF NATO

But Trump has renewed harsh criticism of fellow NATO members in recent months, accusing them of ​failing to do enough to help the U.S. in its war with Iran and suggesting he could quit the alliance or disregard its mutual defence pact.

European ‌officials insist ⁠they largely honoured commitments to let the U.S. use their airspace and bases in their countries, despite not having been consulted about a war that roiled their economies and was deeply unpopular in Europe.

The U.S. has also announced troop withdrawals from Europe, cut the forces it assigns to NATO’s defence plans – including an aircraft carrier, refuelling aircraft, fighter jets and drones - and launched a six-month review of its military presence ​on the continent.

European officials say they ​are braced for a repeat ⁠of some of Trump’s recent criticism at the summit but hope Erdogan and Rutte will use their close relationships with the U.S. president to keep the summit on an even keel.

But they say they cannot ​be sure of a positive outcome, given lingering tensions over Greenland and Iran, and Trump's volatile ​relationship with some leaders, ⁠most recently seen in a feud with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

DEFENCE DEALS UNDER WRAPS

Details of the arms deals to be announced on Tuesday have been kept under wraps in an effort by NATO to make a PR splash ahead of the summit.

But Dutch Defence Minister Dilan Yesilgoz told Reuters on ⁠Monday her ​country would announce deals and plans worth more than €3 billion ($3.43 billion), including partnerships with ​Belgium on air defence and Britain on naval ships.

NATO also plans to announce it will replace its ageing fleet of U.S.-built AWACS surveillance aircraft with a Swedish alternative, ​Saab's GlobalEye, four sources told Reuters last week.

Reporting by Andrew Gray, Tuvan Gumrukcu and Huseyin Hayatsever; Writing by Andrew Gray; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani

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Andrew Gray

Thomson Reuters

Andrew Gray is Reuters' European Affairs Editor. Based in Brussels, he covers NATO and the European Union and leads a pan-European team of reporters focused on diplomacy, defence and security. A journalist for almost 30 years, he has previously been based in the UK, Germany, Geneva, the Balkans, West Africa and Washington, where he reported on the Pentagon. He covered the Iraq war in 2003 and contributed a chapter to a Reuters book on the conflict. He has also worked at Politico Europe as a senior editor and podcast host, served as the main editor for a fellowship programme for journalists from the Balkans, and contributed to the BBC's From Our Own Correspondent radio show.

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