Hutchison: Turkey NATO Summit Will Test Alliance Unity, Defense Spending and Ukraine Strategy

Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison told Newsmax that she hopes President Donald Trump will use the upcoming NATO summit in Turkey to "bring the NATO allies together" and ensure member states are aligned on major foreign-policy challenges.

Speaking on the program American Agenda, Hutchison said she wants Trump's "number one priority" at the summit to be unifying the alliance so all members are "on the same page." She identified Iran and Ukraine as key issues where cohesion is essential.

Another central objective, she said, should be a careful review of NATO members' defense spending. "The president will want to sort out NATO member countries' defense spending plans, to see what they have actually done in the last year with their defense spending increases or the plans to do that, and to see if they will really be allies to America from his viewpoint," Hutchison said.

Hutchison described the Russian invasion of Ukraine as one of the alliance's toughest challenges. She noted recent Ukrainian advances and reported longer-range strikes into Russian infrastructure, including refineries, and said those developments could influence Kremlin calculations.

"I think that is a major factor for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to now be looking at his own country having infrastructure attacks," Hutchison said.

On casualties, Hutchison cited media reports claiming heavy Russian losses, saying "with the thousands of troops, they're saying 30,000 troops a month of Russians are dying in this war." She framed these figures as reports rather than independently verified counts.

Hutchison also noted that President Trump had spoken with both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Putin within the prior 24 hours, suggesting that diplomatic movement could produce results "to the benefit of everyone."

Reflecting on comments she made in mid-June, Hutchison reiterated her belief that a face-to-face meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy is likely: "It has to happen," she said. She concluded by urging the U.S. and its allies to increase economic pressure on Moscow. "I think it's time to put more sanctions on Russia and to just say, stop it," Hutchison said, calling the conflict "a horrendous humanitarian crisis."

Context: Hutchison's remarks highlight the summit's dual focus on political unity and concrete defense commitments, underscoring NATO's role in responding to the Ukraine conflict and other international challenges.