BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON/TIRANA – As NATO leaders prepare for a summit in Turkey next week, plans for an alliance summit in Albania next year have been thrown into doubt due to resistance from the Trump administration and dissatisfaction among NATO members with Tirana’s low defense spending, a NATO diplomat, European official and ​three people familiar with the matter said.

A draft statement for next week’s NATO summit in Ankara does not currently mention ‌holding the ‌next gathering in Albania, despite a previous declaration that it would take place there, the people said.

The ​move comes as European NATO members seek to show U.S. President Donald Trump in Ankara that they have made progress on defense spending pledges and avoid open clashes with the American leader. The uncertainty over the fate of the alliance’s Albania summit also comes after it was reported in April that NATO is considering ending its recent practice of holding annual summits, a move that could avoid a potentially tense ⁠encounter with Trump later in his term.

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