NATO seeks to include funds for Ukraine in new spending target - Bloomberg
Kyiv • UNN
The NATO summit in The Hague will consider including contributions to Ukraine's defense in the new target for defense spending. The Alliance will work to remove barriers to trade in defense products.
At the NATO summit in The Hague on June 24-25, Alliance members will consider including contributions to Ukraine's defense in a new spending target, which is expected to be adopted at the summit itself. This was reported by UNN with reference to Bloomberg.
NATO allies will consider including contributions to Ukraine's defense in a new spending target, which members of the Alliance are expected to approve at a summit of leaders later this month
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization will also propose working to remove barriers to trade in defense products, according to a preliminary draft of the summit declaration seen by Bloomberg. The draft is likely to change before the final version is agreed at the meeting in The Hague.
According to Bloomberg, the one-page declaration focuses exclusively on defense spending, a stark contrast to last year's statement, which contained more than 5,000 words and a pledge of long-term security assistance to Ukraine.
Sources say that the brevity of both the statement and the summit itself, which will include a dinner with the King of the Netherlands and a single working session on defense spending, is intended to limit the potential for public squabbles between President Donald Trump and his allies.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has focused the summit on securing a victory for Trump in the form of an agreement among members to spend at least 5% of GDP on defense, sources said.
Alliance members will also seek to maintain full U.S. participation in NATO.
Alliance members will commit to spending at least 3.5% of output on core defense needs by 2032, as well as an additional 1.5% on infrastructure protection, network defense and civil preparedness, which corresponds to the 5% threshold demanded by the United States.
Bloomberg notes that the statement lacks the prospect of Ukraine joining the military Alliance, which was prominent at previous summits. Last year's $40 billion pledge to Kyiv was also not reconsidered.
The preliminary draft reaffirms the Allies' commitment to collective defense, that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all, and that Allies will take appropriate action. Trump has shocked NATO in the past by suggesting that the United States will not defend allies who do not meet the spending target.
It is also reported that the statement will recognize Russia as a "threat" to Euro-Atlantic security, which most members called for, but did not take for granted. However, it will not recognize it as an aggressor of Ukraine. There is no mention of China, which was previously called a "crucial factor contributing" to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Supplement
Foreign Ministry spokesman Tikhiy stated that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was invited to the NATO summit in The Hague. Kyiv expects the NATO summit to send a signal of strength and unity, including with regard to Ukraine.