NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (L) and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan greet Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz during the NATO summit in Ankara, on July 8, 2026. The summit comes at a fraught time for the 77-year-old transatlantic alliance, with the US President demanding members make good on a pledge to ramp up defence spending as Washington takes a step back from Europe. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)