U.S. President Donald Trump will travel to Turkey this week to participate in the NATO summit and conduct several bilateral meetings aimed at addressing ongoing conflicts and alliance commitments, the White House said.
Trump is due to arrive at the summit on Tuesday. His opening bilateral engagement will be with summit host, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, followed by a Wednesday meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, according to a senior U.S. official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity about the itinerary.
The official said the purpose of the Zelenskiy meeting is to discuss "how we can end the war." The official characterized the situation on the ground as having "clearly frozen over the last couple of months and neither side is making a lot of progress," and said that the president feels "a real sense of urgency to try to bring this to a stop."
In addition to the meetings with Erdogan and Zelenskiy, the White House said Trump will meet Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and hold a press conference while in Turkey. The schedule shows the president intends to pair diplomatic engagement with public remarks during the summit visit.
The senior U.S. official also said Trump will press NATO allies to increase their defense spending while at the summit. That message is expected to be part of his interactions with fellow leaders across the alliance.
Officials provided these details in a background briefing and requested anonymity in order to speak candidly about the trip. The descriptions focused explicitly on the meetings planned and the administration's stated objectives for those meetings: seeking avenues to stop active hostilities in Ukraine and encouraging stronger defense burden-sharing among NATO members.
Specific outcomes of the planned bilateral encounters were not provided in the briefing. The official emphasized urgency but did not offer particulars about proposals or next steps beyond the intent to discuss ending the conflict.
Summary of events:
- Trump arrives in Turkey on Tuesday for the NATO summit and will first meet Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.
- On Wednesday, he will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to discuss ways to end the war in Ukraine.
- He will also meet Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and hold a press conference, per the White House.
- The administration intends to urge NATO allies to raise defense spending.
The trip frames diplomacy and alliance advocacy as concurrent priorities for the U.S. president during the summit visit. Details on specific proposals or agreements to emerge from the meetings were not disclosed in the briefing that provided the schedule.