The two wins the NATO summit will bring Ukraine and how the Alliance is changing its approach to Kyiv
On 7 July, the NATO summit has kicked off in the Turkish capital.
There are already strong reasons to believe that the meeting will be a success for Ukraine. Some details, however, will become clear only after the leaders' talks and will depend on how those negotiations unfold. This includes possible agreements on new deliveries of anti-ballistic missiles for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Read more about what to expect from the summit in the article by Sergiy Sydorenko, European Pravda's editor, from Ankara: €140 billion for Ukraine's Armed Forces and Trump's support: What the NATO summit in Ankara has prepared for Ukraine.
Only on Friday, 3 July, did the ambassadors of NATO member states finalise and approve the summit declaration.
One of the last issues to be agreed upon was financing for Ukraine.
The NATO summit decision will guarantee that Ukraine receives at least €70 billion from Allied countries to counter Russian aggression in 2026, and another minimum of €70 billion in 2027.
This will be Ukraine's main diplomatic victory at the summit.
NATO documents typically express such commitments in US dollars. Why, then, was the figure given in euros this time?
The shift away from dollar-denominated commitments also carries symbolic significance, underscoring that the United States is not participating in this particular funding package for Ukraine.
Moreover, all European countries will contribute to the financing, including Hungary and Slovakia. According to officials, neither country is expected to attach reservations to the decision.
However, one question remains unresolved: how much will each NATO member contribute?
The Alliance's decision will not specify how the financial burden is to be divided. Instead, it guarantees Ukraine that the Allies will settle the matter among themselves.
A separate component of Allied support is the PURL programme, under which European countries and NATO partners purchase US-made weapons for Ukraine. This primarily includes interceptors for Patriot air defence systems, including PAC-3 missiles, which are capable of intercepting ballistic missiles.
Securing additional anti-ballistic capabilities is the second priority, and the second expected victory, for Ukraine at the summit.
Unlike the overall funding commitments, however, there is no certainty yet regarding anti-ballistic missile supplies.
This issue will largely depend on the negotiations in Ankara.
Overall, the "Trump track" has recently developed in Ukraine's favour. Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that substantive and ambitious, though not necessarily public, agreements involving the United States could emerge from the summit.
Finally, there is one decision whose importance is primarily political, but should not be underestimated.
According to the latest drafts, the summit declaration will state that Ukraine is a contributor to security in the Euro-Atlantic area. This term means that Ukraine and its cooperation with Allied countries strengthen NATO's collective security.
To some extent, this prepares the ground for the day when Ukraine will already meet all practical requirements for membership, once the necessary political will within the Alliance emerges.
In addition, a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council at the level of foreign ministers will take place on the sidelines of the summit. This is another indication that relations between Ukraine and the Alliance continue to develop positively.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also one of the very few leaders from outside NATO invited not only to the summit itself but also to its key ceremonial event – the leaders' dinner with the US president.
In short, there is every reason to conclude that the NATO summit in Ankara is already shaping up to be a success for Ukraine. The full extent of that success, however, will become clear only after the leaders conclude their negotiations.