Other leaders, including British Prime Minister Keir, Starmer, Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, landed at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport before making their way to the summit.

The two-day gathering is intended to signal to Russian President, Vladimir Putin that NATO is united, despite United States (US) President Donald Trump's previous criticism of the alliance, and determined to expand and upgrade its defences to deter any attack from Moscow.

The summit and its final statement will be short and focused on heeding Trump's call to spend 5% of Gross Domestic Product on defence, a significant jump from the current 2% goal. It is to be achieved both by spending more on military items and by including broader security-related spending in the new target.

--Reuters--