Summit in Ankara: NATO strengthens deterrence and support for Ukraine

The document summarizing the recently concluded NATO summit in Ankara consists of six points. The first concerns the reaffirmation of the most critical allied commitments. It includes familiar declarations regarding collective defense and adherence to Article 5 of the Washington Treaty. The text confirms that the Russian Federation remains a long-term threat to the security of the North Atlantic Alliance.

It was reported that since last year’s NATO summit in The Hague, European alliance members and Canada have signed defense contracts exceeding $140 billion. Furthermore, this year’s summit in Ankara has already resulted in contracts worth at least $50 billion.

The third point concerns the development of NATO’s deterrence capabilities, which are to be based on a combination of conventional effectors and nuclear weapons. „We are investing in our ability to deploy, support, and sustain our armed forces and to achieve our capability targets across all domains, including long-range precision strikes, integrated air and missile defense, unmanned systems, cutting-edge technologies, and intelligence capabilities. We are developing an interoperable transatlantic combat cloud and implementing advanced artificial intelligence models,” the document reads.

NATO has once again committed to continued support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. This time, the allies pledged to provide two packages (each worth 70 billion euros), which are to be used this year and next to strengthen Ukrainian defense. In connection with this point, it was mentioned that European countries and Canada are currently the largest donors to the Ukrainian cause.

Interestingly, at the end of the declaration, there is a point directly dedicated to Iran and the Strait of Hormuz. „Allies reiterate that Iran must never possess a nuclear weapon and call on Iran to fully respect the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz,” the fifth point states.