NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Monday urged allies to translate increased defense spending into concrete military capabilities as leaders will gather in Ankara tomorrow for the 2026 summit.
“Allies must translate economic means into military capabilities” and put their financial resources to work for missiles and interceptors, Rutte said at a pre-summit news conference.
He also thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his team for hosting allied leaders at what he described as a “fantastic venue.”
Rutte stressed that Türkiye remains “as a whole really important” to NATO‘s future security strategy, saying the country’s geographic position and leadership within the alliance are “important.”
NATO heads of state and government are meeting in Ankara on July 7-8 for the alliance’s 2026 summit, hosted by Türkiye.
The two-day summit will focus on implementing the defense spending commitments agreed at the 2025 summit, sustaining military support for Ukraine and expanding defense industrial production.
It is taking place amid renewed debate over transatlantic burden-sharing and continued uncertainty over the Russia-Ukraine war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also expected to participate in summit events.
