Merz demands unity from NATO leaders as he departs for Ankara summit

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called for NATO allies to "send a message of strength and unity" as he departed for the alliance's leaders summit in Ankara on Tuesday.

"The message to come out of this summit should be: We are building a European NATO so that NATO can remain trans-Atlantic," Merz told reporters in Berlin.

Noting that Germany had massively increased defence spending over the past years, Merz reiterated that this was not happening out of "a favour to anyone," in a nod to US President Donald Trump who has long pushed fellow allies to take on a larger share of NATO's defence expenditure.

Instead, strengthening German and European defence capabilities was "necessary for our defence, for our security," Merz added, citing a growing threat emanating from Russia.

"This makes it all the more important that we send a message of strength and unity in Ankara," the German leader.

The two-day gathering held in the Turkish capital on Tuesday and Wednesday will see NATO leaders having to navigate frictions with Trump, who slammed the defence budgets of some allies as "ridiculous" just days ahead of the summit, while also harbouring ire over their lack of support for the Iran war.