US President Donald Trump will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, the White House said on Sunday.
Trump will depart the White House on Monday evening and arrive in Ankara on Tuesday afternoon, White House deputy spokeswoman Anna Kelly told reporters at a briefing.
On Wednesday, Trump will join an official welcome, family photo and NATO leaders’ working session, before holding separate bilateral meetings with Zelenskyy and Sharaa later in the day.
Trump will hold a press conference before departing Ankara.
Meanwhile, briefing a group of reporters on the condition of anonymity, a senior US official said Washington expects all allies to “demonstrate meaningful upward trajectories” in defense spending that results in a fairer burden sharing.
Strait of Hormuz
The official said maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz is expected to be discussed at the NATO summit, noting that several allies have expressed interest in contributing to efforts to safeguard shipping through the vital waterway.
“I certainly believe that the Strait of Hormuz and the protection of the maritime traffic going through there is going to be a subject that comes up,” the official said.
“We’ve had a lot of allies raise their hand and offer to participate with their capabilities, but this points to my earlier point, which is we need capable allies. Many of them don’t have the necessary ships or assets to contribute to a meaningful maritime effort.”
The official added that the summit will feature major defense industry announcements involving allied cooperation.
“We’re going to have billions of dollars in announcements on the sidelines of the summit,” the official said, pointing to defense co-production projects and factory-building initiatives involving European and Canadian allies.
Greenland
In response to a question about Trump’s desire to acquire Greenland, another official said the Trump administration still believes the US acquisition of Greenland is the best long-term solution while “alternative arrangements” are under discussion.
“We right now have governments in Greenland, Denmark, and the US that want to solve this, and they want to solve it permanently,” the official said.
“The president put forward a solution as to how to do that, and it would be the United States acquiring Greenland. We still think that’s the best way to meet the defense needs of NATO with respect to Greenland, but we’re also exploring with them all other mechanisms to address those concerns,” the official added.
Asked about Trump’s meeting with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the summit, the official said: “The president is obviously getting together with President Zelenskyy to talk about how we can end the war. It’s been a priority of his for a long time, and we’re hopeful that we can get to that point.”
