President Donald Trump will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a NATO summit in Turkey on Wednesday that will be charged with tension over the U.S. leader’s views on Greenland, European defence spending and the Iran war.
Trump arrives in Turkey on Tuesday, when he will meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before a summit with the full defence alliance the next day, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said.
Trump-Zelenskyy meeting amid strained ties
Trump, who has had an up-and-down relationship with Zelenskyy, had pledged as a presidential candidate to end Russia’s war with Ukraine within a day once he returned to office. He has been frustrated by an inability to do that.
European leaders, who Trump has criticized over tepid support for his war with Iran, have called for new U.S. and European efforts to support new peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. The White House has been preoccupied for months with the conflict in Iran, leaving U.S.-brokered talks between Kyiv and Moscow stalled.
Trump spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday about Ukraine and the upcoming summit, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said.
Ukraine's deep-strike capabilities
Ukraine has increasingly targeted sites deep inside Russia with long-range drones and missiles, showing strength against its much larger opponent, but a U.S. official told reporters on Sunday the administration still viewed the conflict as one in which neither side was making much progress. Trump will speak to Zelenskyy about trying to end the war, the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told reporters on a conference call.
NATO ties worsen over Iran war
Ties between Washington and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization — rarely warm under Trump — have worsened since the U.S. and Israel launched their war on Iran on Feb. 28. The conflict sparked a global energy crisis, with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz halting oil and gas shipments. U.S. allies, who were not consulted ahead of the strikes, grappled with the fallout.
Trump has lashed out at several NATO members who declined to allow the U.S. to use military bases to carry out early strikes and for failing to help the U.S. reopen the strait. The president has also berated partners for not raising their defence spending to 5 percent of GDP and repeatedly questioned whether the U.S. is getting enough from its allies.
“President Trump expects all allies to step up immediately and not only get on a sustainable path to the five per cent, but get to five per cent as soon as possible,” U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matt Whitaker told reporters on the conference call, calling an increase in European defence spending “really crucial.”
The U.S. has rattled allies in recent months with shifting announcements about pulling troops and resources from Europe. The U.S. has said it will withdraw 5,000 troops from the continent and slash the military assets that Washington would provide in the event of a crisis.
