NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his team for hosting NATO alliance leaders at a "fantastic venue," as he unveiled figures showing European NATO allies and Canada have already ramped up defence spending to around 4 percent of their gross domestic product.
"Last year, European allies and Canada spent nearly 20 percent more on core defence than they had the year before," Rutte told reporters in Ankara on the eve of the summit on Monday.
"Looking at 2025 and 2026 combined, that's $258 billion in extra investment, and the trend continues."
At last year's summit, NATO countries agreed to raise overall defence spending to 5 percent of GDP by 2035, comprising 3.5 percent for core defence investments and an additional 1.5 percent for security-related items.
Rutte said he expects member states to arrive in Ankara with firm plans to meet that target.
"Here in Ankara, I expect nations to present clear, concrete, and credible plans to reach that 5 percent goal. And the evidence we see so far is impressive," he said.
"Just one year into a 10-year project, we see that European allies and Canada are already investing around 4 percent of their GDP in defence and security."
Rutte issued a pointed call for allies to go beyond budgetary commitments and translate spending into tangible military power.
Allies must convert "economic minds into military capabilities" and put cash to work on missiles and interceptors, he said, underlining that financial pledges must now yield real hardware.
NATO countries are also expected to announce "tens of billions of dollars in new contracts" at a defence industry forum on Tuesday.
Rutte stressed that Ukraine must continue to receive sustained allied support, particularly in the critical area of air defence, urging allies and partners to maintain and deepen their assistance as the conflict continues.
Rutte stressed that Türkiye remains "as a whole really important" to NATO's future security strategy, saying the country's geographic position and leadership within the alliance are "important."
NATO heads of state and government are meeting in Ankara on July 7-8 for the alliance's 2026 summit, hosted by Türkiye.
The two-day summit will focus on implementing the defence spending commitments agreed at the 2025 summit, sustaining military support for Ukraine, and expanding defence industrial production.
It is taking place amid renewed debate over transatlantic burden-sharing and continued uncertainty over the Russia-Ukraine war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also expected to participate in summit events.
