NATO leaders on Wednesday (June 25) agreed to a significant increase in defence spending, backing a new goal of 5% of GDP by 2035, a move largely driven by demands from US President Donald Trump and growing concerns over Russia’s military threat.
In a five-point joint statement issued at the summit in The Hague, NATO’s 32 members declared: “We reaffirm our ironclad commitment to collective defence as enshrined in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty – that an attack on one is an attack on all.”
The new defence target includes 3.5% for core defence needs, such as personnel and weapons, and 1.5% for broader security, including cyberdefence and critical infrastructure protection.
Trump: “I stand with Article 5”
Trump, who has long criticised NATO for relying too heavily on the US military, praised the spending deal and offered clarity on his stance toward NATO’s mutual defence pledge: “I stand with it. That’s why I’m here. If I didn’t stand with it, I wouldn’t be here,” Trump told reporters.
Macron warns against trade war amid defence push
Despite the general consensus on spending, French President Emmanuel Macron issued a pointed warning to Trump over threatened import tariffs, arguing they could undermine European allies’ ability to fund military upgrades.
“You cannot come to us as allies and ask that we spend more, tell us we will spend more at NATO — and do a trade war. It’s an aberration,” Macron said.
Rutte: “No alternative given Russian threat”
Mark Rutte, the former Dutch Prime Minister and newly appointed NATO chief, acknowledged the financial strain the new targets would impose on European nations and Canada but stressed the urgency: “There is absolute conviction with my colleagues at the table that, given this threat from the Russians, given the international security situation, there is no alternative.”
He added the alliance would emerge “stronger, fairer and more lethal.”
Spain pushes back on target, gets diplomatic pass
While all NATO countries formally signed on to the new pledge, Spain publicly declared it did not believe it needed to meet the full 5% goal. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez maintained that Spain could meet its commitments by spending significantly less.
Although Rutte disputed this claim, he accepted a “diplomatic fudge” to keep the summit on track.
Spain later said it did not expect any consequences for its stance.
Zelensky meets Trump, but left out of main summit
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose country continues to resist Russian aggression, was not invited to the main Wednesday meeting but did attend a pre-summit dinner and held a separate meeting with Trump afterward.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin condemned NATO’s announcement, accusing the alliance of stoking militarisation and portraying Russia as a “fiend of hell” to justify the massive increase in defence outlays.