NATO Leaders Agree on Spending Hike, Vow Continued Support For Ukraine

THE HAGUE – NATO leaders on Wednesday agreed on a massive spending hike at what the bloc’s chief Mark Rutte called a “transformational summit,” as member state leaders expressed their “ironclad commitment” to help each other if attacked.

The 32 leaders endorsed a final summit statement, which commits 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) as a new defense spending target.

Meanwhile, the US – NATO’s biggest-spending member – shifts its attention away from Europe to focus on security priorities elsewhere. Spain claimed an exception and said it would increase spending to 2%.

US President Donald Trump declared the outcome “historic” and called it a “big win for Western civilization.”

“It’s not a ripoff,” he said. “We are here to help them protect their country.” 

He called NATO leaders a “nice group of people” and said he came to the summit as a political chore, but was left convinced that the assembled leaders love the alliance, their own countries and, most importantly, the US.

As for Spain, Trump repeatedly criticized the southern European country for trying to avoid the new target, saying he would “make them pay twice” through trade measures and take personal control of the negotiations.

Speaking to reporters at the end of the summit, Trump also said increased NATO spending will help prevent future wars like the one in Ukraine. He went on to add that he had a “very nice” meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and promised to “speak to [Russian leader] Vladimir Putin, see if we can get [the war] ended.”

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Trump and Zelensky huddled for about 50 minutes at the end of the summit. It was the first face-to-face talk between the two leaders since April.

“Europe stepping up to take more responsibility for security will help prevent future disasters like the horrible situation with Russia and Ukraine,” Trump told reporters. In a moving exchange with a Ukrainian reporter, the US President did not rule out sending Ukraine more Patriot missile systems, as he asked the reporter to “say hello” to her soldier husband.

“We’re going to see if we can make some available,” Trump said of Ukraine’s request for Patriots. “Yeah, they’re very hard to get. We need them too. We’re supplying them to Israel, and they’re very effective, 100% effective. Hard to believe how effective. They do want that more than any other thing,” he added.

Trump also conceded that it was “possible” that Russia had territorial ambitions beyond Ukraine. Putin, he said, should “get out” of the invasion of Ukraine, adding “it’s a mess for him.”

“He called me the other day, and he said, ‘Can I help you with Iran?’ I said ‘no, you can help me with Russia,’” Trump said of Putin.

In their declaration adopted in The Hague, the NATO allies have declared Russia a “long-term threat” to Euro-Atlantic security, reaffirming their “enduring sovereign commitments to provide support to Ukraine, whose security contributes to ours,” as the statement reads.

Speaking to reporters, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said it was an “alliance that stands firmly by our neighbor and partner Ukraine.”

“Our resounding message to [Zelensky] and the Ukrainian people is that Ukraine has our continued support, including over €35 billion [$40 billion] planned this year, with more to follow,” Rutte said.

He added that the alliance “will continue to support Ukraine on its irreversible path to NATO membership.”

Rutte also said Trump affirmed his commitment to Article 5. At the same time, he made clear that the US expects European allies and Canada to contribute more.

“And that is exactly what we see them doing,” he added, emphasizing that they will “do more of the heavy lifting, equalizing their spending and taking greater responsibility for our shared security.”

As Trump wrapped up his NATO debut in his second term, he was also asked a question about a comment by Rutte, who suggested earlier that Trump was “Daddy” to the alliance.

Asked if he considers NATO allies his children, Trump chuckled, saying, “No, [Rutte] likes me. I think he likes me.”