By Jonathan Spicer

ANKARA, July 7 (Reuters) - Canada wants more countries to back its global defence bank initiative before it announces a roster of founding nations, foreign minister Anita Anand said in an interview on the sidelines of the NATO leaders' summit in Ankara on Tuesday.

Mark Carney's government has been promoting the multilateral Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB) and had been aiming to unveil around 10 national backers at the NATO summit, the country's lead negotiator told Reuters last week.

LONDON, July 7 (Reuters) - Former NATO chief and co-author of Britain's defence plan, George Robertson, criticised the government on Tuesday for not plotting a route to spending 3.5% on core defence and predicted a "frosty" response from NATO allies at a summit this week.

Robertson, a Labour grandee who helped draft Britain's Strategic Defence Review last year, stepped up his criticism of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's defence spending plans, which included an extra £15 billion ($20 billion) to modernise the depleted armed forces and prepare for the wars of the future.

MOSCOW, July 7 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Russia would closely monitor the outcome of the NATO summit in Turkey, adding that a series of "confrontational" statements about Russia had preceded the event.

NATO leaders are gathering in Ankara for meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday, amid pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump for Europe to step up defence spending and following months of transatlantic friction over the Iran war and Greenland.

ANKARA, July 7 (Reuters) - NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Tuesday that allies buy up to five Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton high altitude surveillance drones, with Norway, Finland, Germany and Denmark signing a letter of intent for the purchase.

This is the first purchase of Triton drones by the alliance and will complement NATO’s current fleet of RQ-4D Phoenix intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance drones based at Sigonella Air Base in Sicily, Italy.

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON, July 6 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that a resolution to the more than four-year-old war in Ukraine is "getting closer than people realize" and that he will talk about Ukraine during talks in Turkey this week at a NATO summit.

Egypt coach Hossam Hassan said at the World Cup on Monday that the suffering of the Palestinian people was a "shame on the world" as he called on football to do more to come to their aid.

Hassan waved a Palestine flag after the Pharaohs beat Australia on penalties to reach the World Cup last 16, where they will meet defending champions Argentina on Tuesday.

"If there is someone who has not felt the suffering of the Palestinian people then he or she has no humanity," Hassan said in a lengthy address to a question on the subject at his pre-match press conference in Atlanta.

By Bo Erickson, Steve Holland and Elwely Elwelly

WASHINGTON, July 6 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Monday the United States would either reach a deal with Iran or "finish the job," renewing his threat of military action as Tehran projects defiance following the funeral of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Indirect U.S.-Iran talks ended last week without any public sign of headway toward a lasting peace, despite a 60-day ceasefire intended to create space for diplomacy following the U.S. and Israeli strikes that triggered the conflict.

By Andrew Gray

ANKARA, July 6 (Reuters) - The Netherlands will announce defence deals and plans worth more than €3 billion ($3.43 billion) at a NATO forum in Ankara on Tuesday that precedes a summit of the alliance’s political leaders, Dutch Defence Minister Dilan Yesilgoz told Reuters.

In an interview in the Turkish capital on Monday, Yesilgoz said the announcements would include partnerships with Belgium on air defence and with Britain on naval ships. She said the Netherlands was also looking to engage in more joint projects with Germany.

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Damascus on Monday for the first visit by a Western European head of state since Syria's new authorities took power.

President Ahmed al-Sharaa has been rebooting Syria's international credentials and seeking to revive his struggling country after toppling longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

"I have come to reaffirm France's commitment to the Syrian people. To a sovereign Syria, united in its diversity and at peace with its neighbours," Macron, who will leave on Tuesday, announced on X.