Live updates,
Published On 8 Jul 2026
- NATO leaders are meeting in Turkiye’s capital, Ankara, for the second day of a key summit.
- Divisions over defence spending, Russia’s war on Ukraine, and the Iran conflict dominated the first day.
31 Updates
- 7m ago
(12:53 GMT)
NATO pledges €70bn in military assistance for Ukraine
The leader’s of the alliance issued the declaration as the two-day summit in Ankara, Turkiye, wraps up.
“NATO’s deterrence and defence rest on an appropriate mix of nuclear, conventional, and missile defence capabilities, complemented by space and cyber assets. We are committed to maintaining our combat advantage,” said the declaration.
“We are investing in our ability to deploy, enable and sustain our armed forces and deliver our capability targets in all domains, including in deep precision strike, integrated air and missile defence, uncrewed systems, cutting edge technologies, and intelligence capabilities. We are developing an interoperable transatlantic warfighting cloud and adopting powerful AI models.”
- 16m ago
(12:45 GMT) ## Chevron-chartered oil tanker caught in Russia-Ukraine war
Chevron-chartered oil tanker Yasa Polaris, used for Caspian Pipeline Consortium shipments, has been hit by a drone off Russia’s Black Sea coast.
Yasa Tanker, the managing company, said the ship without a cargo was hit by a drone near the CPC marine terminal on Tuesday while it drifted offshore.
“All crew members are safe and accounted for. No visible damage to the hull has been reported. No pollution or environmental impacts are reported currently. Our vessel has left the area,” it said.
Ukrainian UAVs attacked a dozen tankers from Russia’s “shadow fleet” delivering fuel to Russian-annexed Crimea in recent days, according to its military.
There was no official comment from Ukrainian authorities about the incident involving the Chevron-chartered tanker.
- 18m ago
(12:42 GMT)
NATO issues communique vowing to honour collective defence
The NATO summit declaration has reaffirmed its “ironclad commitment” to collective defence under Article 5.
The allies also announced more than $50bn in new procurements. It said NATO allies increased defence investment to more than $139bn in 2025, and affirmed sovereign commitments to sustain at least equivalent levels of military spending through 2027.
Alliance leaders called on Iran to respect freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and said Tehran should never have nuclear weapons.
“Our unity, solidarity and collective strength remain the foundation of peace, security, and prosperity for the one billion citizens in our Alliance of free and democratic nations. We remain committed to our 360-degree approach to deterrence and defence,” the declaration said.
- 31m ago
(12:30 GMT) ## Chancellor Merz says Turkiye summit to bring ‘new spirit’ to NATO
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says he hopes the NATO summit in Ankara will mark a new chapter for the alliance, strengthening cooperation and unity between the US and its European partners.
“It is now exclusively up to Russia to end this war and we will do everything again today to achieve that, and also send a clear message to Moscow: Russia has no chance of winning this war,” said Merz.
“I am confident that, starting from Ankara, we will see a new spirit within NATO – one that makes the alliance stronger and more united,” he told reporters.
Merz said the alliance’s European members are ready to shoulder greater responsibility and are significantly increasing defence spending to meet the targets set at NATO’s previous leaders’ summit in 2025.
“Last year in The Hague, we decided to significantly step up our defence efforts, and we have delivered. We will make NATO more European so that it can remain transatlantic.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the NATO summit in Ankara on Wednesday [Serdar Ozsoy/Getty Images]
- 46m ago
(12:15 GMT) ## Canada, UK say defence-funding initiatives ‘mutually supportive’
Canada and the United Kingdom say their defence-funding initiatives – the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB) and Multilateral Defence Mechanism – are highly complementary.
“Canada and the UK will continue to engage closely to ensure our respective initiatives develop in a coherent and mutually supportive way,” said a joint statement from the offices of Prime Ministers Mark Carney and Keir Starmer.
The Multilateral Defence Mechanism is a financing model led by the UK, the Netherlands, Finland and Poland to accelerate defence investment.
The UK had resisted joining the DSRB, but Finance Minister Rachel Reeves said in June that it’s now working with Canada on the project.
“We are also working closely with Canada on the Multilateral Defence Mechanism and the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank, which lends to smaller businesses in the supply chain, so that we have one model to help us better fund defence in our country and across Europe,” she said at the time.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy [Handout/Ukrainian Presidency via AFP]
- 1h ago
(12:00 GMT) ## Ukraine hammers Russian energy facilities during NATO meeting
Ukrainian drones have attacked three Russian oil refineries and pipeline pumping stations.
Ukraine’s Security Service said eight drones struck the Cherkasy oil pumping station in Bashkortostan, Russia, causing a fire at the facility 1,500km (930 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
The Ukrainian military’s General Staff and special forces said drones also hit the TANECO and TAIF-NK oil refineries in Tatarstan’s Nizhnekamsk, the Saratov oil refinery and the Borisoglebsk military airbase in the Voronezh region.
Russian officials confirmed the strikes. The degree of damage was not immediately clear.
Russia has been suffering from acute fuel shortages in some regions as Ukraine wages a drone campaign against oil refineries and energy infrastructure and hits targets ever farther from its territory.
A Leleka reconnaissance drone is capable of flying up to 120km (75 miles) and returning to base [File: Diego Fedele/Getty Images]
- 1h ago
(11:45 GMT)
Ukraine should prioritise negotiations after military successes
Ed Arnold, senior associate fellow of international security at the Royal United Services Institute, says Ukraine’s long-range preemptive strike capabilities have had a significant impact in the war with Russia.
“Ukraine is in a stronger position. They found a way to not just deal with Russia in the close fight in the trenches; they’re also increasing long-range strikes,” he told Al Jazeera.
“Critically what they’ve managed to do is … really going after Russia’s logistics, their ability to fight, and they’re having real success,” he added.
Arnold stressed Ukraine needs to leverage battlefield wins strategically and get President Putin to the negotiating table.
“Ukrainian membership in NATO is not in the cards and is not going to be discussed. This is about hard military capabilities to keep Ukraine in the fight,” said Arnold, noting that renewing military support for Kyiv is one of the summit’s key topics.
- 1h ago
(11:30 GMT)
What’s been said about Greenland at the NATO summit?
Greenland – a self-governing part of Denmark and, therefore, protected by NATO – has been the subject of much discussion at the summit.
Trump demanded that the US take control of the world’s largest island, saying it’s “very important” for the US “but it’s not important for Denmark.”
“In fact, when Denmark was overrun by the Nazis in less than one day – Hitler beat them out in one day, took over – they asked us to take care of Greenland. In fact, we took Greenland, and then stupidly, we gave it back,” Trump said.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen reiterated that Greenland is not up for grabs. “We are ready to defend every inch of NATO, including our own territory,” she said.
Meanwhile, the EU said “decisions about the future of Greenland are for Greenlanders and Danes”.
“Territorial integrity, national sovereignty and inviolability of borders are fundamental principles of international law,” EU spokesman Olof Gill said.
Trump is expected to hold a news conference today [Francisco Seco/AP]
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- 1h ago
(11:15 GMT) ## Number of wounded rises after Russian attacks on Kharkiv
Kharkiv’s Governor Oleh Syniehubov says the number of injured Ukrainians from Russian attacks on Nemyshlianskyi district has increased.
“Casualties from the Russian Federation’s strike on Nemyshlyanskyi district has risen to 34. Our medical personnel are providing everyone with the necessary assistance,” he said in a statement on the government’s Telegram platform.
Russia also fired ballistic missiles at the capital Kyiv overnight, its third attack in less than a week, killing at least one person.
- 2h ago
(11:00 GMT) ## Meloni reaffirms Italy’s support for Ukraine during Zelenskyy meeting
As we reported earlier, Giorgia Meloni and Volodymyr Zelenskyy met on the sidelines of the NATO summit. During the meeting, she confirmed Italy will continue to provide assistance to Ukraine.
“Italy’s strong commitment to stand alongside Ukraine and support a process leading to a just and lasting peace was reaffirmed,” said a statement issued by the Italian government.
Meloni renewed Italy’s commitment to assisting the Ukranian people, “with a particular focus on measures to strengthen the resilience of energy infrastructure, which has been severely affected by Russian attacks”.
The two-day NATO summit is focused on defence spending commitments from NATO countries, with particular emphasis on expanding military support for Ukraine. According to Zelenskyy, nearly 20 bilateral meetings are planned to discuss security cooperation between Ukraine, Europe, and the United States.
NATO Secretary-General Rutte (L), Prime Minister Meloni (C) and President Erdogan [Chris McGrath/Getty Images]