President Trump declared the three-week memorandum of understanding with Iran ‘over’ on July 8 after US forces struck more than 80 Iranian targets and Tehran fired missiles at US military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.
Tag: NATO
Posted inGeopolitics
NATO Ankara summit pledges €70bn for Ukraine and locks in 5% GDP defence target
Leaders of all 32 NATO members gathered in Ankara on 7–8 July 2026, pledging €70 billion in military aid to Ukraine in 2026 and formalising the alliance’s five-percent-of-GDP defence investment target.
Posted inWorld
Trump arrives in Ankara to enforce NATO’s 5% defence pledge
NATO heads of state convene in Ankara on 7–8 July as Trump presses allies to prove their 5% of GDP defence spending commitment made at The Hague summit a year ago.
Posted inGeopolitics
Trump cuts NATO forces before Ankara summit as allies prepare 5% GDP spending pledge
Trump has cut 5,000 US troops from Germany and halted a Poland rotation ahead of the Ankara NATO summit on 7 July, in what Pentagon officials call ‘NATO 3.0’.
Posted inGeopolitics
Ukraine signs deal for 16 Gripen E jets from Sweden as Denmark pledges $670m in defence aid
Kyiv signed a procurement agreement with Stockholm for 16 Gripen E multirole fighters on June 30, financed through an EU loan, as Denmark simultaneously announced a $670 million defence package.
Posted inGeopolitics
Germany’s Bundeswehr hits 36-year spending high at $114bn as Pistorius eyes Europe’s top army
Germany’s combined defense outlay reached €108 billion in 2026 — the first time since 1990 that Berlin has exceeded 2% of GDP on military spending — as Chancellor Merz pursues Europe’s strongest conventional army.
Posted inGeopolitics
Hegseth declares NATO’s era of freeriding over in Brussels troop review
Hegseth ordered a six-month review of US troops in Europe on June 18, saying allies who denied base access during Iran operations had been ‘shameful.’
Posted inGeopolitics
G7 Évian closes without communiqué as leaders back tougher Russia pressure
The 52nd G7 summit in Évian ended June 17 with no joint communiqué but a package of pledges on Ukraine air defence, oil and gas sanctions, and energy resilience.
Posted inGeopolitics
Britain, France and Germany push Trump on Ukraine peacekeeping at G7 Évian
European heavyweights are pressing Trump at the G7 Évian summit to back a ceasefire along current front lines and authorise a NATO peacekeeping force on Ukrainian soil.
Posted inGeopolitics
Trump’s troop pullout threatens the town that lives beside America’s army
The planned withdrawal of 5,000 U.S. soldiers from Vilseck, Bavaria would remove roughly double the town’s own population and strip it of more than $800 million in annual revenue.