NATO leaders met Tuesday for the first day of a two-day summit in the Turkish capital Ankara, at which defence spending, Ukraine, and alliance unity topped the agenda.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump to the Presidential Complex, after which the two leaders held one of the summit's most highly anticipated bilateral meetings.
In his first visit to Ankara since returning to office last year, Trump met with his Turkish counterpart behind closed doors to discuss defence cooperation, regional security, and broader strategic ties.
According to Turkish officials, discussions focused on U.S. sanctions imposed on Türkiye under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), Ankara's hope of rejoining a U.S.-led F-35 jet fighter programme, and expanding cooperation in the defence industrial field.
The summit brings together leaders from NATO's 32 member states at a time when the Western alliance is confronting Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine, instability across the Middle East, and mounting pressure to strengthen its collective deterrent capacity.
At a high-profile NATO Defence Industry Forum held alongside the summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met NATO chief Mark Rutte, with whom he discussed military assistance to Kyiv, especially in terms of air defences.
Along with Ukraine, the summit’s first day was dominated by the issue of defence spending by allies.
In pre-summit remarks, Rutte urged NATO allies to step up investment in their military capabilities, as leaders seek to achieve a spending target of 5% of GDP on defence and security by 2035.
At the Defence Industry Forum, several multinational initiatives were unveiled to enhance the production of missiles, drones, air defence systems, and other vital military equipment.
The summit’s first day also saw continued debate over inter-alliance burden-sharing, with Trump again urging European allies to increase defence spending and stressing the need for a stronger NATO.
Leaders are set to continue talks on Wednesday before issuing a final declaration laying out NATO’s position on collective defence, defence-industrial cooperation, and continued support for Ukraine.
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Russia is willing in principle to resume peace talks with Ukraine and the United States in November, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said after President Vladimir Putin met U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg.
Saudi Aramco has ordered staff to evacuate its headquarters amid escalating Houthi attacks on the kingdom. Two people were killed in an attack on Dammam airport, while Iran's IRGC Navy claimed strikes on seven vessels and warned the U.S. of a wider response.
Russian strikes on Ukraine overnight killed at least two people and injured 15 others, including two children, Ukrainian authorities said. Meanwhile, Russia said it had intercepted the vast majority of 630 Ukrainian drones launched towards Moscow.
Yemen's Houthis have denied targeting the holy city of Medina on Wednesday adding that they have not conducted any military operations towards Saudi Arabia either, denying earlier comments from the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.
Georgia’s Constitutional Court in Batumi will on Wednesday hear a lawsuit seeking to ban five Georgian opposition parties, four of which collectively gained 784,820 votes (37.79 per cent) in the country’s last national elections in 2024.
Russian strikes on Ukraine overnight killed at least two people and injured 15 others, including two children, Ukrainian authorities said. Meanwhile, Russia said it had intercepted the vast majority of 630 Ukrainian drones launched towards Moscow.
Nigeria's first Ebola case in more than a decade may be linked to travel in Uganda, Swiss authorities said on Thursday, although the source of infection remains unclear. Uganda maintains it has no cases of the disease.
Super typhoon Champi is set to batter Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture from Friday (23 October), bringing violent winds, torrential rain and waves up to 11 metres high, as airlines cancel flights and organisers scrap a major festival.
Two women from Austria and Switzerland have been freed after lengthy periods in captivity in Niger, following extensive diplomatic efforts to secure their release amid growing concerns over kidnappings in the Sahel region.
France has reported its first known human case of Shamonda virus following the death of an infected patient, authorities said on Thursday (22 October). The virus, typically found in livestock, is believed to have been transmitted by a biting midge.
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