NATO chief says Europe meeting spending targets after Trump criticism

Days after former US President Donald Trump implied that Washington might not defend nations that did not spend enough, NATO said on Wednesday that Europe was fulfilling an alliance spending objective and that the US needed allies. In addition, NATO leader Jens Stoltenberg warned lawmakers that China would become more confident if Russia prevailed in its battle with Ukraine and pleaded with the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to approve a “crucial” multibillion dollar military aid package for Ukraine. According to Stoltenberg, the European members of the transatlantic alliance will spend a total of $380 billion on defense this year, increasing their overall defense spending to a projected 2% of GDP in 2024 from 1.85% in 2023. By suggesting that he might support Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to NATO partners who did not spend enough, Trump startled Europeans on Saturday. The objective of allocating 2% of their GDP to defense has been committed to by the 31 allies, albeit not all of them have done so individually. “I expect 18 allies to spend 2% of their GDP on defence this year,” Stoltenberg told a news conference in Brussels, adding overall military spending was set for another record year after two years of Russia’s full-fledged war against Ukraine. Berlin will allocate the equivalent of 71.8 billion euros ($76.8 billion) for defense spending this year through normal and exceptional budget outlays, marking a historic first since the end of the Cold War. The total amount spent on defense, however, remains confidential. France, the sole nuclear-armed nation in the alliance, might do likewise. French defense spending is expected to rise significantly under the 2024–2030 Military Programming Law, with 413 billion euros allocated over the following seven years. The new budget was first anticipated to account for 2% of GDP starting in 2025, however some sources have indicated that could happen sooner. (With agency inputs)