NATO Is Ready To Fulfill Trump's Demand
- 14.05.2025, 12:00
The alliance is developing a plan to allocate 5% of GDP to defense.
NATO allies have started to form an agreement on a significant increase in defense spending in response to US President Donald Trump's demand to allocate 5% of GDP to the military.
Bloomberg reports this, citing the words of knowledgeable diplomats, "European Pravda".
According to the interlocutors, alliance negotiators are making progress in shaping a plan that envisions reaching a level of 5 percent of GDP for defense and related spending by 2032 - ahead of a NATO summit in The Hague in June.
They noted that NATO foreign ministers will discuss the initiative when they meet in Turkey on May 15-16.
A deal to increase defense spending to the level Trump is demanding (none of NATO's 32 member states, including the United States, has yet reached that threshold) would be the largest increase in allied military spending since the end of the Cold War. The alliance has focused on rearmament since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is pushing the idea of agreeing on a new target of 3.5 percent of GDP over the next seven years, as well as an additional 1.5 percent for broader defense-related spending, diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity. This was first reported by Reuters.
At the same time, the agency noted that ministers in Turkey will discuss what kind of spending could be included in the additional 1.5%, particularly military mobility, dual-use goods and cybersecurity. It is not yet clear whether this is about existing spending or whether new commitments are needed.
Rutte's initiative also calls for a rigid verification mechanism, as opposed to the current more flexible targets.
A European diplomat noted that such a sharp increase in spending over a short period of time would be a huge challenge, although many already see it as necessary to show resolve to the Kremlin.
The agency writes that the new baseline of 3.5% is based on the ambitious defense plans that NATO is currently developing. The alliance has already sent detailed classified lists of weapons and capabilities (so-called "capability targets") to member governments, which will be discussed by defense ministers in Brussels in early June.
The lists are scheduled to be formally approved at a summit in The Hague on June 24-25.
Another Rutte initiative, according to knowledgeable people, concerns reforming the alliance's efficiency and internal management. The move could interest the US president, one diplomat said.