NATO members are urgently discussing raising their defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP amid fresh fears over global threats and as Donald Trump threatens to pull out of the alliance upon his return to the White House.
It comes as the head of the defence alliance warned Thursday that it will not be prepared for the threats it is set to face from Russia in the coming years if it does not shift to a wartime mindset now.
‘Russia is preparing for long-term confrontation, with Ukraine and with us,’ NATO secretary general Mark Rutte said during a speech in Brussels. ‘We are not ready for what is coming our way in four to five years.’
He said that the time has come for the alliance to ‘turbocharge our defence production and defence spending’, adding that the current security situation is the worst he has seen in his lifetime.
Confidential preliminary talks took place this week about raising the alliance’s target rise from 2 per cent of of GDP, a measure that could be implemented at its annual summit in the Netherlands in June next year, according to the Financial Times.
WHY DONALD TRUMP WANTS TO PULL OUT OF NATO?
President-elect Trump has argued that Europe should pay more for its own defence after he declared that he would consider pulling the US from NATO if targets were not met.
During his first presidency, Trump demanded more spending during the 2018 NATO summit, with leaders vowing to meet the 2 per cent benchmark.
But the surge in spending only came in response to Russia‘s war against Ukraine, with non-US NATO members raising their spending by around $100 billion over the last two years as a result.
