U.S. President Donald Trump has told President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that he plans to attend the NATO summit to be held in Ankara on July 7-8, according to a report by Middle East Eye.
The report, citing sources familiar with the talks, said Trump conveyed the message during a phone call with Erdoğan on May 20.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also said Erdoğan had spoken with Trump more than once over the past month and that the U.S. president had expressed his intention to attend the summit each time.
The Ankara summit is expected to be one of the alliance’s most closely watched meetings, as NATO members seek to manage questions over defense spending, transatlantic burden-sharing and the United States’ role in the alliance.
Fidan said that despite Trump’s critical remarks on NATO, Washington continued to show commitment to the alliance and had given no indication that it intended to act on warnings about a possible withdrawal.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said recently that preparations for the Ankara summit were underway and that leaders would need to address Trump’s concerns over some allies’ responses to U.S. operations in the Middle East.
Rubio, who met Fidan on the sidelines of a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Sweden last week, said the two discussed the importance of allies meeting defense commitments, plans for the Ankara summit, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and regional stability.
A European official quoted by Middle East Eye said Trump’s attendance could bring difficult discussions, but that his absence would be damaging for the alliance’s future.
Rubio also told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the Ankara summit would be an “interesting” meeting, according to the report.
