Ankara: The Summit of Appearances

There is a great sigh of relief among the European allies.

The NATO summit in Ankara ended without drama, rupture, or divorce. While nothing has really been resolved on the dual Ukrainian and Middle Eastern fronts, appearances, at least, have been preserved. The summit concluded with a solemn reaffirmation of the common security clause — the famous Article V of the North Atlantic Treaty — and even with a proclamation of renewed support for Ukraine in its war against the Russian invasion.

And yet, it was an angry Trump who had arrived in the Turkish capital, expressing before the cameras, alongside a contrite Mark Rutte — the Alliance’s Secretary General — all the resentment he harboured towards the Europeans: Trump forgiving neither the allies’ hostile attitude towards the annexation of Greenland, which the American president nevertheless considers indispensable, nor their complete lack of support — quite the opposite! — in the war against Iran.

But then, a miracle: at the summit’s closing press conference the following day, the very same Donald Trump congratulated himself on the “unity” and even the “love” he had felt in the Council room…

In substance, however, the reality is somewhat different and no doubt explains the sudden change in tone of the “boss”. NATO is enduring, but in another form, one that the summit carefully avoided detailing. Not a word about the planned withdrawals from the American “force posture” in Europe, which will nevertheless be carried through within the six-month timeframe mentioned by the Pentagon, and, along with them, the handover of three major commands to European general officers. Nor a word about this “NATO 3.0”, which, for Washington, will not be about “sharing” the burden, but about “transferring” it to the Europeans.

The Europeans will have swallowed this historic pill without protest… enough to satisfy Trump, who thus emerges from the summit without drama, either in Ankara or at home, before a Congress that remains attached to the Alliance.

The same applies to Ukraine. On the surface, the summit is a political and media victory for Zelensky, photographed alongside President Trump beneath the Stars and Stripes and, above all, the NATO flag, with, as an added bonus, the American president’s praise for Ukraine’s recent military achievements. An image that must have caused tempers to boil in Moscow, where Ukraine’s rapprochement with the Atlantic Alliance lies at the origin of this war and remains an absolutely major casus belli.

But beyond the photographs, there is the war itself. Zelensky needs money and, urgently, anti-missile interceptors. The money will come from the Europeans, to the tune of two instalments of €70 billion in 2026 and 2027. But as for Patriot interceptors, the Ukrainians will have to wait — a long time. Washington needs them against China, but also in the Middle East, where a large number of these missiles have already been expended against Iranian attacks.

But, once again, a miracle: an apparently revolutionary solution was announced, with Trump agreeing to transfer production of his Patriot missiles to Ukraine and undertaking to secure from the companies that manufacture them — Raytheon and Lockheed Martin — the necessary technology transfers. While the media were impressed, the reality is, once again, quite different, since such a transfer, if it ever does take place, will take several years and would occur only after the end of the war.

For the time being, Ukraine therefore remains without a solution to the Russian ballistic missiles fired every night against its urban centres and civilian populations, including in Kyiv. In truth, apart from Trump, the only winner from this operation is none other than the host, President Erdogan, who is now establishing himself, with his army and powerful arms industry, as America’s key partner, the point of convergence between the two wars in Ukraine and Iran.

“The summit was taking place in Ankara. Without Turkey, I would not have come,” the American president said quite simply…

Pierre Lellouche
10 July 2026