US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has called on European NATO allies to shoulder the “overwhelming share” of future aid to Ukraine. In his speech Wednesday at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Hegseth said the US would not deploy its own troops to secure a potential peace settlement in Ukraine. He described a return to the 2014 borders as “unrealistic” – pursuing this “illusory goal” only prolongs the war and causes more suffering.
Rutte touts new billions in figures
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, shortly before Hegseth’s appearance, tried to appease the US with current investment figures. Since 2014, European allies and Canada have provided more than $700 billion in additional defense spending, Rutte said. Last year alone, total investments reached $485 billion – an increase of nearly 20 percent compared to 2023. Two-thirds of alliance members have now met NATO’s target of spending at least two percent of gross domestic product on defense, Rutte stressed.
At the same time, the Secretary General called for significantly higher defense spending and reiterated his demand for a new NATO target “north of three percent” of GDP. Many allies, especially in Europe and Canada, need to “invest significantly more,” Rutte said ahead of the two-day ministerial meeting. This must happen “sooner rather than later,” without specifying a timeline. The new plans for a massive expansion of military capabilities are to be approved at the NATO summit in June in The Hague.
According to Rutte, the 32 member states far exceeded their self-set target for Ukraine aid in 2024: instead of the pledged €40 billion, it reached €50 billion. More than half of that came from European allies and Canada. This represents a major step in the direction US Donald Trump is demanding on burden-sharing, Rutte explained. Whether there will be a binding aid target for 2025 remains open – a decision could be made at the summit in The Hague.
Source: www.berliner-zeitung.de
