NATO considering ending annual summits

(Patria) - NATO is considering ending its recent practice of holding annual summits, six sources told Reuters, a move that could avoid a potentially tense encounter with U.S. President Donald Trump in his final year in office.

The Trump administration has repeatedly sharply criticized many of the 31 other members of the U.S.-led defense alliance, and recently criticized some for not providing more assistance to U.S. military operations against Iran.

The frequency of NATO summits has varied throughout the alliance's 77-year history, but its leaders have met every summer since 2021 and will gather in the Turkish capital Ankara on July 7-8 this year.

However, some members are pushing to slow the pace, a senior European official and five diplomats, all from NATO member countries, told Reuters.

NATO members seek less drama and better decisions

One diplomat said the 2027 summit, which will be held in Albania, will likely be held that autumn and that NATO is considering not holding one at all in 2028 – in the year of the U.S. presidential election and Trump's last full calendar year in office.

Another said some countries are pushing for summits to be held every two years, adding that no decision has yet been made and that Secretary General Mark Rutte will have the final say.

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal NATO discussions.

In response to Reuters' inquiry, a NATO official said: "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 on our common security."

Two sources mentioned Trump as a factor, but several said broader considerations were at play.

Some diplomats and analysts have long argued that annual summits create pressure for flashy results that distract from long-term planning.

"It's better to have fewer summits than bad summits," said one diplomat.

"We have plenty of work ahead of us anyway, we know what we need to do." Another said that the quality of discussions and decisions is the true measure of the alliance's strength.

Trump casts a shadow over NATO meetings

Phyllis Berry, a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, wrote: "Reducing the number of high-profile summits would allow NATO to get on with its business and reduce the drama that has characterized many recent transatlantic meetings."

In an article published on the think tank's website last week, she noted that NATO held only eight summits during the decades of the Cold War. She described Trump's first three NATO summits in his first term as "contentious events, dominated by his complaints about allies' low defense spending."

Last year's summit in The Hague was also largely shaped by Trump's demand that NATO members sharply increase defense spending to five percent of GDP – a goal they accepted by agreeing to spend 3.5% on core defense and 1.5% on broader security-related investments. The mere fact that it concluded without major issues was considered a success.

This year's gathering also looks tense.

After NATO allies refused to provide him with the support he sought in the war with Iran, which he initiated without consulting or informing them, Trump openly questioned whether the U.S. should stand by NATO's mutual defense pact and said he was considering leaving the alliance.

Months earlier, he laid claim to Greenland, an autonomous territory belonging to Denmark, a NATO member.

At the 2018 summit, Trump threatened to leave the meeting in protest of other NATO allies' low defense spending.

"Had he followed through on his threat to leave the country in protest, we would have been left alone to piece together a shattered NATO," wrote Jens Stoltenberg, then NATO Secretary General, in memoirs published last year.