President Donald Trump plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on Wednesday while attending the NATO summit in Turkey, the White House said. Those discussions will come as Kyiv tries to refocus Trump’s attention on the conflict with Moscow and as Trump has publicly mused about Syria’s role in the Middle East.
The Ankara Summit: Trump’s Strategy for a Quick End
The upcoming NATO summit in Turkey arrives at a moment of extreme volatility. While the White House is pushing for a cessation of hostilities, the battlefield remains active and the diplomatic stakes are high. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly confirmed the meetings in a call with reporters while previewing the upcoming summit in Ankara, where Trump also plans to meet with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday.
Trump’s approach is characterized by a sense of urgency. A senior U.S. official told reporters that the president feels a sense of urgency to bring the war to an end and will speak to Zelenskyy about how to do that. Trump is expected to follow up with Putin after his meeting with Zelenskyy. This follows a series of high-level communications on Saturday, where both Zelenskyy and Putin called Trump to congratulate him on the July Fourth commemoration of the 250th anniversary of American independence.
Zelenskyy believes there is now a real prospect of ending this war, a sentiment he shared on social media following his call with the U.S. president. However, the optimism is tempered by the reality on the ground.
Escalation on the Ground: ‘Long-Range Sanctions’ and Massive Strikes
Diplomacy is currently competing with a surge in kinetic activity. Ukraine has shifted its strategy toward striking deeper into Russian territory, a move Zelenskyy describes as long-range sanctions.
Recent operations have targeted critical Russian infrastructure:
- St. Petersburg: Drone attacks hit a local port and oil infrastructure, as well as a military target on Kronstadt island.
- Crimea: Strikes in northern Crimea killed one person and injured two others, including a 10-year-old child, according to Gov. Sergei Aksyonov.
Zelenskyy has warned that intelligence indicates Russia is now preparing a massive strike.
The Spending Ultimatum: 5% GDP or ‘Consequences’
Beyond the immediate conflict, Trump is using the summit to overhaul the financial architecture of the alliance. The White House has warned of consequences if allies do not “immediately” fulfil their pledge to increase their military spending to 5% of GDP by 2035. Failure to meet these targets could result in a less capable Europe and Canada, according to U.S. officials. This puts the United Kingdom in a precarious position. While Sir Keir Starmer announced a £15 billion upgrade to the armed forces, the UK’s spending stands at 2.7%.
| Entity | Current/Projected Spending | Trump Administration Target |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 2.7% of GDP | 5% by 2035 |
| NATO Allies (General) | Varies (Poland/Nordics leading) | 5% by 2035 |
U.S. ambassador to Nato Matt Whitaker emphasized that the president expects all allies to step up immediately and not only get on a sustainable path to the 5 per cent but to get to 5 per cent as soon as possible. This financial pressure is paired with a carrot and stick approach; analysts suggest that higher spending may grant nations priority access to U.S. weaponry and direct access to Trump himself.
The ‘Pain’ Factor: Trump’s Shifting Stance on Russia
The U.S. continues to condemn Russia’s escalation, particularly the use of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik ballistic missile. Tammy Bruce, the U.S.’s deputy ambassador to the UN, told the Security Council that Russia’s actions risk expanding and intensifying the war.
The geopolitical stakes now extend to Syria. Trump’s meeting with President Ahmad al-Sharaa is viewed by some as an attempt to pivot regional security, with Trump suggesting Syria should fight Hezbollah. Al-Sharaa, who led an Islamic insurgent group and whose rebel forces ousted Bashar Assad as Syria’s president, has said he has no interest in doing so. He has suggested Trump’s comments were misconstrued, even as Trump has repeated them.
As the Ankara summit begins, the central tension is whether Trump can leverage economic threats and military promises to force a deal, or if he is simply attempting to broker a peace that Putin—who continues to launch ballistic missiles—has no intention of accepting.
