On the closing day of the NATO summit in Ankara, President Donald Trump was set to headline talks focused on Ukraine, collective defence and higher alliance spending, with leaders seeking to project unity on transatlantic security. The day matters because Trump was due to hold a closely watched bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy amid warnings that Kyiv is running critically short of the Patriot interceptor missiles it relies on to counter Russian ballistic strikes.

Trump's agenda included the summit's only plenary session, meetings with Zelenskyy and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, and a closing press conference before returning to Washington. His opening day drew attention after he announced the United States would lift sanctions on Turkey — declaring "We don't sanction friends" — and signalled willingness to proceed with F-35 sales to Ankara, despite long-standing US objections over Turkey's purchase of Russia's S-400 system. Ukrainian officials said a recent barrage went entirely un-intercepted owing to dwindling stocks, and appealed to nearly 40 partner nations to transfer Patriot missiles immediately while production catches up.