Trump heads to Turkey as NATO is strained by Russian attacks, U.S. impatience

President Donald Trump is headed to Turkey for a acme of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, arsenic the confederation is squeezed by Russia's continuing subject aggression successful Ukraine and America's increasing insistence that NATO members rapidly beef up their defense spending.

Those pressing concerns travel connected apical of lingering controversies surrounding the U.S.' warfare against Iran and its anterior attempts to instrumentality implicit Greenland, a territory of NATO subordinate Denmark.

Trump is simply a cardinal fig successful each of those issues.

"I tin ideate truthful galore issues wherever this could spell wrong," Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution told CNBC's "The Exchange" connected Monday successful a preview of the summit.

A affirmative result for the gathering would see NATO making headway connected sharing its subject spending burden, and uncovering much ways to enactment unit connected Russian President Vladimir Putin, O'Hanlon said.

Progress connected the erstwhile extremity appears to beryllium wrong reach: NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte successful May said that the task up is "to crook Allied commitments into factual results" astatine the summit.

But the imaginable of a breakdown successful talks looms large, arsenic Trump has often vented astir NATO, including its members' refusal to heed the U.S. calls for assistance clearing the economically captious Strait of Hormuz during its run against Iran.

"I don't expect large things, but adjacent incremental advancement and nary blow-up would beryllium welcome," O'Hanlon said.

Trump is acceptable to get successful Ankara connected Tuesday day aft departing the U.S. connected Monday evening, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told reporters successful a telephone previewing the trip. He is slated to conscionable with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan upon arrival, past enactment successful a bilateral gathering with him aft an accomplishment ceremony, followed by a NATO leaders' dinner.

After a "family photo" with the leaders connected Wednesday morning, Trump volition articulation a moving session, past clasp bilats with Zelenskyy and Syrian President Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa.

Trump volition clasp a property conference, past depart Ankara for the White House, Kelly said.

On Sunday, Russia bombarded Ukraine's superior metropolis of Kyiv with dozens of missiles and hundreds of onslaught drones, sidesplitting astatine slightest 11 and injuring scores more, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and media reports.

The attacks connected the eve of the summit, which Zelenskyy is slated to attend, ensured that the warfare volition beryllium a pressing absorption for the 32-member alliance, who person already labeled Putin's warfare successful Ukraine the "gravest threat to Euro-Atlantic information successful decades."

One time earlier the strikes, Trump and Putin held a "business-like and constructive" telephone telephone that was initiated by the U.S. and lasted astir 90 minutes, the Kremlin said.

Trump stressed successful the telephone that Russia and America could recognize their "colossal imaginable for mutually beneficial cooperation" erstwhile the warfare successful Ukraine ends, portion Putin portrayed a rosy representation of Russian subject efforts arsenic the "real concern connected the battlefield," according to Putin adjutant Yuri Ushakov.

Trump besides spoke that time with Zelenskyy, who aboriginal declared that the strikes connected Kyiv underscore Ukraine's hopeless request for further subject assistance — particularly from the U.S.

"The United States and Europe person capable spot to halt this terror," Zelenskyy said aboriginal Monday morning.

He hopes to permission the NATO acme with commitments from the subordinate states to ramp up enactment for Ukraine's aerial defenses. He is acceptable to clasp a bilateral gathering with Trump successful Turkey connected Wednesday afternoon, according to the White House.

But Trump, who has antecedently clashed with Zelenskyy and praised Putin, whitethorn not hold that the solution to the four-year warfare is to further fortify Ukraine.

When Trump was asked Monday greeting wherefore Putin seemingly felt nary unit to debar hostilities pursuing their call, helium insisted that the Russian person is so seeking to extremity the war.

"I deliberation helium does consciousness pressure," Trump told reporters successful the Oval Office. "He wants to extremity it, and Ukraine wants to extremity it, and we're successful talks, and we'll spot if we tin get it ended."

"Putin wants it to end, I volition archer you that precise strongly," Trump went on, adding that the 2 men had a "good call."

"And President Zelenskyy really wants it to extremity now. And we're going to beryllium going to NATO, and we're going to beryllium talking astir it, and I deliberation we're going to get it. I deliberation we're going to get it ended," helium said.

O'Hanlon, of Brookings, told CNBC, "I bash not deliberation there's immoderate large grounds that Putin is person to doing a deal. I anticipation President Trump's right, but I haven't seen impervious yet."

While NATO members already agreed past twelvemonth to increase their spending to 5% of GDP from 2% by 2035, the Trump medication is demanding that the countries standard up to that people as soon arsenic possible.

"The people is that Europe takes implicit the accepted defence of the European continent," Matthew Whitaker, U.S. ambassador to NATO, told CNBC earlier Monday. "We're not going away, we're conscionable doing less."

A elder U.S. official, successful a telephone previewing the summit, told reporters to expect "billions of dollars successful announcements" connected the sidelines successful Ankara.