Rutte Defends Trump's NATO Criticism, Highlights Summit Unity and Procurement Deals

Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte defended US President Donald Trump’s criticism of the transatlantic security alliance, while saying this year’s summit showed “a huge sense of unity” and produced procurement plans worth tens of billions of dollars.

During a press conference after the North Atlantic Council meeting of leaders at the Nato summit hosted by Turkey in Ankara on Wednesday, Rutte said this year’s gathering had resulted in more than US$50 billion in procurement deals as part of efforts to meet the defence spending target of 5 per cent of GDP by 2035, agreed at last year’s summit in The Hague.

These investments will support Nato’s capability targets across all domains, including deep precision strike, integrated air and missile defence, uncrewed systems, cutting-edge technologies and intelligence capabilities, as well as developing “interoperable transatlantic warfighting clout” and adopting powerful AI models, Rutte said.

He said that there was a “great sense of unity” among the leaders, who “warmly welcomed” the leadership of Trump, whom he described as “transforming” the alliance and making it “stronger,” where the member states pledged €70 billion (US$80 billion) in military equipment, assistance and training and “unwavering support” for Ukraine.

“This summit has shown that the alliance is stronger than ever. An alliance that is united and ready to defend every edge of our territory,” said Rutte.

“Here in Ankara, allies reaffirmed their ironclad commitment to collective defence under Article 5 that an attack on one is an attack on all, and we will stand together. Our unity, solidarity and collective strength remain the foundation of peace, security and prosperity.”