РУССКИЙ
13:49 06.07.2026 •
In an interview with International Affairs magazine, Alexander Shatilov, a professor in the Department of Political Science at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, shared his thought about the upcoming NATO summit in Turkey.
"The atmosphere at the July 2026 NATO summit in Ankara is going to be quite intense, as it will discuss not routine but rather highly pressing issues, both domestic and international. Regardless of what will be on the agenda, the overarching issue will certainly be support for Ukraine, now that the North Atlantic Alliance has practically fully expressed its support for Ukraine with even the United States having joined in supporting Volodymyr Zelensky's regime. Now the summit will decide how to stop Russia in Ukraine," Shatilov said.
"I think the question will be the possibility of a future conflict between Russia and NATO, and who will participate in it. We see that, despite their aggressive stance, most of the European countries are not prepared to deploy any military contingent against Russia and are only willing to provide material or military-technical assistance," Alexander Shatilov added.
"Few of them really want to engage in a direct confrontation with Russia. Save, perhaps, for the Poles and the Balts, but they have already been de facto present in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict zone since 2014 and are fighting against our country. I don't rule out the possibility of them negotiating with Erdogan to gauge Turkey's readiness to join this confrontation on Europe's side if relations between Russia and Europe worsen," the expert noted.
"Currently, Erdogan’s position is rather flexible and midway, but my guess is that he will find himself under pressure from both Trump and the Europeans, who are undoubtedly keen to draw Turkey into this anti-Russian initiative," Alexander Shatilov explained, adding that with its strong and well-equipped army, one of the best in the world, Turkey would certainly be of use to NATO.
"As for domestic issues, the main focus will be on NATO countries' contributions to the common fund, as Trump never tires of criticizing his allies for their tight-fistedness and reluctance to finance the North Atlantic Alliance, especially since he's facing congressional elections. If he succeeds in getting the Europeans to ramp up their defense outlays, which would scale back Washington’s spending on NATO, I believe that would become a pretty strong campaign trump card," Alexander Shatilov noted.
"So the summit promises to be quite intense, especially when it comes to what will be going on behind closed doors, when specific issues and details will be discussed. A few controversial issues, particularly related to funding, might also be made public. As for Russia, I think it will need to analyze the summit's results and, perhaps, prepare for new challenges and new threats," Alexander Shatilov concluded.
The views of the author are his own and may not reflect the opinion of the Editorial Board.
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