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Mark Rutte warns NATO members must increase defence spending or ‘you better learn to speak Russian'

Mark Rutte warns NATO members must increase defence spending or ‘you better learn to speak Russian'

Independent8 hours ago

The NATO general secretary has called for a 400% increase in air and missile defence spending, claiming member states will need to 'start learning Russian' otherwise.
Mark Rutte gave a keynote speech at Chatham House on Monday (9 June), where he proposed a target of 3.5% of economic output on military spending and another 1.5% on 'defence-related expenditure'.
'I only need to make sure that collectively we have what we need to prevent us from taking up a Russian language course,' said Rutte, adding member states' politicians would have to make up the extra cash.
Sir Keir Starmer has committed to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence from April 2027, with the aim of increasing that to 3% over the next parliament.

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