French President Emmanuel Macron is safe and still expected to attend the NATO summit in Turkey beginning Tuesday after what may have been an assassination attempt during his visit to Syria.
Two bombs exploded Tuesday morning outside the Damascus hotel where Macron had been staying, but he was not there. His office says he had already left to meet with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa when the blasts occurred.
Syrian state TV says 18 people were wounded and, so far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
One bomb had been placed in a dumpster and another in a vehicle near the Four Seasons Hotel, a source told French news agency AFP.
The explosions come just days after a bomb blew up in a cafe near the Justice Palace in Damascus, killing at least 10 people.
NATO sets its sights on defense
President Donald Trump is also heading to Ankara for the NATO summit. He’s expected to keep pressing NATO allies to spend 5% of their gross domestic product on defense.
NATO, meanwhile, plans to unveil billions of dollars in new military projects as it tries to show Trump that allies are following through on their spending commitments, according to The Associated Press. At an event dubbed “the big reveal,” several leaders are expected to announce new defense deals, many with American companies.
Trump has long argued NATO relies too heavily on the United States, once calling the alliance a “paper tiger.”
Ahead of the summit, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the alliance is already delivering more military capability.
“After years of underinvestment, we are producing real capabilities,” Rutte said. “European allies and Canada are now on a trajectory to equalize their defense spending with the United States. And not just that, they are taking on more leadership within NATO’s command and control structure, stepping up on conventional defense, on efforts to bolster our deterrence and defense, including along the entire eastern flank in the Baltic region and the Arctic, and spearheading support to Ukraine.”
Ukraine on the docket
Ukraine is also expected to dominate the summit, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to meet with Trump on the sidelines.
A U.S. official told Reuters Trump wants to renew efforts to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
That meeting comes as Ukraine is still cleaning up after Russian drone and missile strikes killed at least 22 people and injured dozens more in Kyiv Sunday night into Monday morning.
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