Leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which includes several European countries, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, are gathering this week in The Hague, Netherlands, for a yearly summit amid Russia’s continued war on Ukraine and uncertainty about Washington’s future in the alliance.The NATO summit, which starts on Tuesday and lasts for two days, is the first to be attended by US President Donald Trump since he took office in January for his second term. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, the former Dutch prime minister, will also chair the meeting for the first time.
Among expected talking points are the war in Ukraine and the issue of how much member states are spending on their collective defence, a contentious point in particular for the US. Trump has long argued that the US shoulders too much of the financial burden and wants others to raise their defence spending.
But the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran, which the US joined last weekend, could shadow the summit. On June 23, Iran fired missiles at the US’s Al Udeid airbase in Qatar, a day after the US struck three Iranian nuclear facilities. Trump has since claimed that Israel and Iran had agreed to a ceasefire, but neither of the two nations has confirmed any deal.
Who is attending the NATO summit?
Amid several events planned for the two days of meetings, the main focus of NATO summits is the North Atl …
