Two-Day NATO Summit To Start Tuesday in Turkey
Turkey is preparing to host this year's NATO summit, an event that will see the alliance face challenges from both outside and within. Amid protests on the streets of Turkey's capital Ankara, the city seems nonetheless ready to host the leaders of NATO's 32 member countries.
NATO Summit Kicks Off in Ankara
REPORTER:
The Turkish capital Ankara is all ready to host this year’s NATO summit.
REPORTER:
Security is tight in part because some Turks, especially on the left, are unhappy to see their country welcoming NATO’s leadership.
Ali Oztutan (PROTESTER):
The main purpose of our march, the reason we stand together today is to protest the war crimes committed by NATO, which we see as an international war organization of US imperialism, against the peoples of the world, both in the past, present, and future.
REPORTER:
Police detained more than a hundred protesters at an anti-NATO rally organized by Turkey’s communist party on Sunday. The summit will be held from Tuesday to Wednesday. The question is how smoothly it will go, as the 32-member alliance continues to face some tough issues.
REPORTER:
One big challenge is Russia’s war against Ukraine—a conflict that’s already grinding on longer than the First World War and has become Europe’s deadliest conflict since the Second. The Kremlin says US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Ukraine in a phone call Saturday.
Voice of Yuri Ushakov (RUSSIAN PRESIDENTIAL FOREIGN POLICY AIDE):
The presidents naturally addressed the issue of a settlement in Ukraine, taking into account, in particular, Donald Trump's upcoming participation in the NATO summit in Turkey on July 7 and 8. The American president has once again reaffirmed his readiness to help bring about a swift end to the hostilities and to seek solutions for overcoming the crisis.
REPORTER:
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, though, says he doesn’t see any swift end to hostilities at all. He’s heading to Turkey, too, to meet with Trump. And ahead of his departure, he’s telling Ukrainians to be ready for Russia to strike again.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT):
There is new intelligence that the Russians are preparing a new massive strike. This is in the spirit of Putin - right after America's Independence Day and before the NATO summit in Ankara, Russia wants to add evil, kill people. Please take care of yourself, pay attention to air warning signals.
REPORTER:
And it won’t just be Ukraine at this summit. As recently as Friday, US President Trump brought up what for him is an old grievance—US contributions to NATO vs. other allies’--combined with a newer one—some allies’ refusal to let the US use their airspace in its recent war with Iran.
REPORTER:
And so, the coming days will show how the alliance navigates both security challenges from the outside and strains from within.
