NATO summit in Turkey

Netanyahu: Dangerous to give Turkey F-35 fighter jets

Benjamin Netanyahu is critical of Donald Trump's opening to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. In an interview with CNN, the Israeli prime minister says it would "destroy the balance of power in the Middle East".

He accuses Turkey, which has been an outspoken opponent of Israel during the Gaza war, of having "aggressive ambitions".

- If you give them that capability, we will see increased aggression as a result, says Netanyahu.

Turkey was removed from the list of potential buyers of F-35 planes after the country bought a Russian air defense system in 2019.

Finnish Foreign Minister: In many ways Trump is right

Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen thinks that Donald Trump is largely right to criticize European countries that invest too little in defense. She tells CNN that the president's way of expressing his views may differ from traditional diplomacy.

- But in many ways he is right when he demands that Europe do more.

Valtonen, who is in Ankara for the NATO summit, emphasizes that many European countries are working hard to reach the alliance's new five percent goal.

- It is good that Europe has now bitten the bitter apple. 

Five NATO countries look set to reach the goal of 3.5 percent this year

Five NATO countries look set to reach the alliance's goal of spending at least 3.5 percent of GDP on defense spending already this year. This is shown by new figures published by NATO on Tuesday, writes Reuters. All member countries agreed last year that the goal should be reached by 2035 at the latest.

Lithuania looks set to become the NATO country that spends the most money on defense in terms of size. According to NATO, Lithuania is expected to spend 5.33 percent of GDP on defense by 2026. Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Greece are also above the 3.5 percent target.

The report shows that several countries have not reached the previous target of two percent.

Sweden is spending 3.22 percent of GDP on defense this year, according to the list.