ANKARA: US President Donald Trump landed in Ankara on Tuesday for a Nato summit where leaders are hoping to woo him with promises on defence spending, a correspondent said. The US leader is due to hold talks with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan at his sprawling presidential palace before joining an official leaders dinner ahead of the main session of the summit on Wednesday. Trump landed at 1:51 pm after making his first foreign flight aboard his new Qatari-gifted Air Force One plane where he was greeted on the tarmac by Erdogan and a presidential guard, some dressed in blue, others in red.
On his first official visit to Ankara, Trump was then to be taken to Erdogan's presidential palace where guardsmen dressed in historical warrior costumes were awaiting him on the steps outside, a correspondent said. The palace boasts soaring atriums and grandiose halls, its interior decorated with onyx, marble and intricate geometric patterns. The opulence was not likely to be lost on Trump, with one room displaying an impressionistic painting of Erdogan and a cabinet with a crystal panther.
Ahead of his arrival, Nato allies have tried to showcase surging defence spending with new arms contracts worth billions in an effort to placate the mercurial US leader's fury over Europe's response to the war with Iran. The two-day gathering comes a year after Nato members pledged to ramp up security-related spending to five per cent of GDP under pressure from the US leader. Nato chief Mark Rutte has insisted European countries are "delivering" by bolstering military budgets and moving to take more responsibility for the defence of their continent in the face of Russia.
Meanwhile, president Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine's battle-hardened forces would bolster Nato's defences, as he renewed his argument for Kyiv to join, at the alliance's summit in Ankara. At the same time, he urged Ukraine's backers to step up help for the country's air defences as it struggles with shortages of crucial interceptors to shoot down Russian missiles. "Do you really believe it would be right to live outside Nato, a country and a people with this level of defensive capability?" Zelensky said in a speech on the sidelines of the summit. "Ukraine in Nato is a source of extraordinary defensive capability."
Zelensky renewed calls for Ukraine to be granted membership despite US President Donald Trump firmly shutting the door on Kyiv becoming part of the Western military alliance. The US leader has poured cold water on Ukraine's long-standing push to join Nato as he has sought to bring an end to more than four years of war with Russia.
Ukraine has recently appeared to turn the tide on the Kremlin in the conflict as it has stabilised the front line and carried out damaging strikes deep inside Russia. But despite being able to tackle the swarms of Russian drones targeting the country daily, Kyiv has difficulty shooting down ballistic missiles as its air defences run low. "We are capable of doing everything else ourselves, but when it comes to air defence, we need our partners' determination," he said. "Please let more determination and more decisions for air defence be one of the key outcomes of this Nato summit."
The Ukrainian leader said current production levels of the US-made Patriot missiles were not sufficient as he called on allies to press Washington to let Kyiv produce them under licence. He also urged European nations to work with Ukraine to produce their own cheaper version of the technologies. "Europe needs affordable mass-produced anti-ballistic systems as soon as possible. In fact, today," he said.
The two-day gathering at Ankara's sprawling presidential palace comes a year after Nato members pledged to ramp up security-related spending to five per cent of GDP under pressure from the US leader. European leaders are aiming at least to avoid a bust-up with the mercurial US leader that could deal a further blow to Nato's credibility after Trump repeatedly cast doubt on Washington's commitment to protecting its allies.
Diplomats are banking on Trump's good relationship with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and an unstinting charm offensive by Nato chief Rutte, to keep his mood in check. But with Trump having had fallings out with a string of other leaders — most recently Italy's Giorgia Meloni — there are plenty of irritants that could ignite his anger. — AFP
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