Trump Blasts Spain, NATO Pledges Billions for Ukraine: Is the Alliance Still United?

 

The Pakistan Times Live | Islamabad Times  

NATO's two-day summit in Ankara wrapped up Wednesday with member states unveiling billions of dollars in new defense spending and a fresh aid package for Ukraine  even as US President Donald Trump used the gathering to publicly attack one of the alliance's own members, Spain, exposing the cracks that continue to run beneath NATO's show of unity. The Pakistan Times Live breaks down what actually came out of Ankara, and what it means for the 75-year-old alliance's future.

Big Numbers, Bigger Headlines

Heading into the summit, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte set the tone by announcing a wave of new defense investments across the alliance, including a five-year, $40 billion commitment to counter-drone capabilities alongside major new spending on integrated air and missile defense. Leaders reaffirmed last year's pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP by 2035  split between 3.5 percent on core military spending and 1.5 percent on broader security-related needs  and several allies rolled out fresh arms deals during the summit, timed in part to reassure a US president who has long complained that Europe under-spends on its own defense.

On Ukraine, NATO members pledged roughly $140 billion in defense investments tied to Ukraine's needs, with a specific package worth around 70 billion euros (roughly $80 billion) for 2026, and a commitment to "at least equivalent levels" of support in 2027. Notably, the Czech Republic opted out of participating in that package, according to Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis  a reminder that even the headline pledges do not carry unanimous buy-in.

Trump's Praise, and His Attacks

True to form, Trump's presence at the summit produced both warm words and sharp criticism within the same 24 hours. He described the gathering as a "tremendous" show of unity, telling reporters the mood in the room was "incredible" and that allies were making real progress toward the 5 percent spending target.

But Trump also singled out Spain, which has declined to commit to the new spending target, calling it a "terrible partner in NATO" and saying the US should "cut off all trade with Spain." Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who has previously criticized Trump over the Iran conflict, played down the remarks, insisting that US-Spain relations remain "positive." Trump separately revived his long-standing push for the US to acquire Greenland from Denmark a NATO founding member  during the same summit window, a comment that has repeatedly frustrated European allies, with French President Emmanuel Macron telling reporters he does not believe the US will actually move to seize the territory.

A Shift in Tone on Ukraine

Perhaps the most notable undercurrent at this year's summit was a change in how allies are talking about Ukraine. In previous years, NATO discussions centered on how badly Ukraine needed rescuing against a stronger Russian military. This year, according to analysts tracking the alliance, the conversation has shifted toward viewing Ukraine's battlefield tactics as something other militaries are increasingly studying and learning from, reflecting a broader sense within European and American security circles that momentum has turned against Moscow in recent months.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose country is not a NATO member but attended the summit, held a bilateral meeting with Trump and a separate trilateral discussion involving Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on the summit's sidelines. Zelenskyy was expected to press Trump for additional Patriot air defense systems, as Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities have intensified  a drone attack on Kyiv killed at least 11 people just two days before the summit began.

NATO also announced it would upgrade its long-running Baltic air policing mission into a full air-defense mission, giving pilots a broader mandate to intercept threats, according to Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda — a step that comes after NATO aircraft shot down suspected stray Ukrainian drones over Estonian and Latvian airspace earlier this year, an incident NATO described as the first time the mission had opened fire in defense of the alliance.

Analysis: Unity on Paper, Tension Underneath

Taken together, the Ankara summit captures NATO's defining contradiction under the current US administration: substantial, concrete commitments on paper  record defense spending pledges, a major Ukraine support package, an upgraded Baltic air mission paired with public discord that would have been unthinkable at NATO summits a decade ago. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz offered a notably candid assessment, crediting Trump with ending what he called Europe's "free-riding" on defense, even while acknowledging the unconventional and often abrasive way that pressure has been applied.

The Spain episode is instructive precisely because it did not derail the summit's broader outcomes. Allies pushed through their spending and Ukraine commitments regardless of Trump's public friction with Madrid, suggesting that NATO's institutional machinery can still function even when its most powerful member's head of state is openly feuding with another member state in real time. Whether that resilience holds if similar friction recurs at future summits especially around unresolved questions like Ukraine's long-term path to membership, which remains deliberately vague  is likely to be the real test of the alliance's cohesion going forward.

Conclusion

NATO leaves Ankara with bigger financial commitments than it walked in with, but also with fresh evidence that alliance unity under Trump is something negotiated in public, one summit at a time, rather than a settled fact. The Pakistan Times Live will continue tracking how these commitments translate into action in the months ahead.

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