Many political events have their peak moments that are remembered for a long time and even turn into memes. One such moment was undoubtedly the humiliating treatment of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House, where both Vice President J.D. Vance and President Donald Trump were pressing him at the same time. People still recall how Trump told Zelenskyy he had "no cards."

One of the most striking moments of the NATO Ankara summit came when Trump asked Zelenskyy whether he was ready to go to Moscow (to meet Putin). Zelenskyy replied that it would not be safe for him there because Ukrainian drones were flying overhead…

NATO 3.0

The Ankara meeting may go down in history for the decision that Europe will take over the alliance's future leadership role from the United States. The U.S. will gradually reduce its conventional weapons presence in Europe and retain primarily nuclear deterrence. This is commonly referred to as NATO 3.0. NATO 1.0 was the Cold War, and 2.0 was Afghanistan. It must be said immediately that even this reduction in conventional weapons is not yet fully clear, because an audit still lies ahead. No one knows what may happen in the meantime.

In any case, Europe seems ready to take on capabilities that until now were expected only from the U.S. A good example is the plan to order 10 reconnaissance aircraft from the Swedish company Saab for €4.5 billion. Another is the plan to build powerful transport aircraft in cooperation with Airbus and several countries.

Germany, France and the United Kingdom want to produce long‑range missiles worth €50 billion. This last plan may have been one reason why the U.S. unexpectedly agreed to provide Germany with its Tomahawk missiles, after previously refusing. The U.S. arms industry does not look kindly on lucrative defense contracts slipping from America to Europe.

Fortunately, the fears that prevailed before Ankara did not materialize — namely, that Donald Trump would get angry again and slam NATO's door behind him. The first day of the summit was indeed gloomy, as Trump once again scolded Europeans for not helping in the war in Iran. Spain was even threatened with cutting the trade ties. He again raised the issue of acquiring Greenland.

On the second day, however, Trump's attitude changed completely. Now the European partners were "friends" with whom it was "pleasant to be together." Perhaps Trump's mood was influenced by events in Iran, where Tehran again attacked cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz, and the funeral of Iran's religious leader Ali Khamenei turned into a massive anti‑American demonstration. For a moment, Iran's new leaders had been "quite reasonable guys" in Trump's eyes — now they had become "filth."

The Russian threat and Ukraine

Be that as it may — for us, the most important thing is that the Ankara declaration reaffirms unwavering support for NATO's collective defense Article 5 and states that Russia is a long‑term threat to Euro‑Atlantic security. As a reminder: the latest U.S. national security strategy contains no reference to the Russian threat at all, a fact that delighted Russian propagandists.

Ukraine was a central issue in Ankara. The Trump–Zelenskyy meeting has already been mentioned. Trump's promise that the U.S. will grant Ukraine a license to produce PAC air‑defense missiles for Patriot systems has drawn much attention. The issue is complicated because Ukraine needs these missiles now, not in three to four years when production could realistically begin (and it is not even known where — likely not in Ukraine). Trump can now tell Ukraine: what more do you want…

In any case, it is clear that the war between Russia and Ukraine will end when one side's resources are exhausted. Ukraine is currently doing a good job destroying Russia's main source of income — the oil industry. But Ukraine still needs money and weapons. Ankara decided that Ukraine will receive €70 billion more this year and the same amount next year, plus the €90 billion previously allocated by the European Union.

Russia likes to repeat that it is not fighting Ukraine but the entire "collective West." Let it be so — because Russia is indeed a threat to the entire Western world.

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