NATO chief makes huge demand to UK on defence spending after Donald Trump calls
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte today said allies will find themselves 'in great difficulty' in the coming years if they stick with the current 2% GDP alliance spending target
The UK is under renewed pressure to increase defence spending further after the head of NATO said it should be matching the US's figure.
Secretary-general Mark Rutte today said allies will find themselves "in great difficulty" in the coming years if they stick with the current 2% GDP alliance spending target.
Keir Starmer this week reiterated his commitment to get defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027. The PM said he was "100% confident" his "ambition" to hit 3% would be reached in the next Parliament but faced criticism after not giving a clear pathway on how this would be done.
Multiple reports have since emerged that the UK will be forced to promise to hike defence spending to 3.5% of national income within ten years to keep Donald Trump onside.
Mr Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister, is thought to be pushing for members to commit to spending 3.5% on the military, with a further 1.5% on defence-related measures. America currently spends around 3.4% of its GDP on defence. NATO members are expected to spend 2%.
Speaking at a NATO press conference on Wednesday, Mr Rutte said: "The expectation is that on the European side of NATO and the Canadian side of NATO, if we think that we can keep ourselves safe sticking with the 2%, forget it.
"Yes, the next three to five years, but then we are in great difficulty. And the US rightly expects us to spend much more to defend ourselves with their help, but also to equalise, which is only fair with what the US is spending on defence."
Leaders from Nato will meet in The Hague later this month, with Mr Rutte saying a new "investment plan" will be "at the heart" of the summit.
Donald Trump has previously called for the alliance's members to commit to a 5% GDP spend on defence. The demand was reiterated by US representative to NATO Matthew Whitaker in the lead up to this week's meeting.
Asked about the US's 5% demand, Defence Secretary John Healey today told a press conference: "Those summit discussions will not just be about funding profiles.
'They will be about the crucial capabilities that each one of the 32 nations will contribute, in the years ahead, to strengthening Nato's collective deterrence and its collective defence. It is a matter not just of how much nations spend, but how they spend it."
Elsewhere Mr Healey said the UK will stand with Ukraine 'for as long as it takes'. He said there had been 'a significant shift' in Russia 's actions, with Moscow "routinely" firing more than 300 drones a day into Ukraine at a rate that could be sustained throughout 2025.
The defence chief said the UK delivered 10,000 drones to Ukraine last year and will increase that tenfold this year. He also said Britain will train Ukrainian forces at home and abroad, "increasing our funding for that training by 20% to nearly £250 million".
He said the UK's resolve was "matched by allies from Europe and beyond" who had made "major pledges today worth billions of euros to support Ukraine in its fight".
Mr Healey said: "President Zelensky and minister Umerov (Ukraine's defence minister) leave this meeting knowing that we stand with them, knowing that we will stand with them for as long as it takes.
"Peace through strength is what President Trump calls for. The strength comes from the support through this UDCG (Ukraine Defence Contact Group). So, we send a message today also to Moscow: Ukraine is strong, it has many friends, its friends stand with them."
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