NATO is considering ending its recent practice of holding annual summits, six sources told Reuters, a move intended to avoid a potentially tense meeting with United States President Donald Trump in his final year in office.
The Trump administration has repeatedly engaged in scathing criticism of many of the other 31 members of the U.S.-led defense alliance, recently reprimanding some of them for not providing more assistance to U.S. military operations against Iran.
The frequency of NATO summits has varied over the alliance’s 77-year history, but since 2021 its leaders have met every summer (in the northern hemisphere) and will meet this year in the Turkish capital, Ankara, on the 7th and 8th of July. Some members, however, are pushing for a slowdown, a high-ranking European official and five diplomats, all from NATO member countries, told Reuters.
A diplomat said the 2027 summit, to be held in Albania, should take place, but NATO is considering not holding the meeting in 2028 — the year of the US presidential election and Trump’s last full year in office.
Another source said that some countries advocate holding summits every two years, adding that no decision has yet been made and that Secretary-General Mark Rutte will have the final say.
In response to Reuters, a NATO official stated that ‘NATO will continue to hold regular meetings of heads of state and government, and between summits, NATO allies will continue to consult, plan and make decisions about our shared security.’
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Two of the sources mentioned Trump as a factor, but several said there are broader considerations at play.
Diplomats and analysts have already been arguing that annual summits create pressure for flashy results, which ends up diverting focus from long-term planning.
‘It’s better to have fewer summits than bad summits,’ said one diplomat. ‘Anyway, we have a lot of work to do; we know what needs to be done.’
