NATO leaders on Wednesday confirmed their commitment to more than double the defensive spending in 2035’s 2035 banding’s words, including “important”, “important”, and “quantum jump”, but the summit also exposed how the US and Europe recognize Ukraine and Russia.
Allies have pledged to spend 3.5% of their GDP on core defense spending to buy military hardware, maintain their troops, and another 1.5% will spend 1.5% on defense-related investments. This includes military mobility, cybersecurity, military and civilian cooperation, and dual-purpose investments that increase resilience of critical infrastructure.
President Donald Trump, who has long sought a 5% target, cried out victory, praised how “more than the year (US dollar)” was spent on defense from Europe and Canada.
The declarations born from the summit are far shorter than those that emerged from previous meetings, painting the United Alliance, but not all.
This is what you need to know.
5% different interpretations
“The Allies are committed to investing 5% of their annual GDP in core defense requirements and defense-related expenditures by 2035, in order to ensure personal and collective obligations in accordance with Article 3 of the Washington Convention,” the NATO Declaration states.
However, some allies seem to have different interpretations. For example, Spain and Slovakia have shown that they are not trying to raise their defense budgets so far, claiming that reducing spending will allow them to reach national capacity goals.
Prime Minister Sanchez emphasized to reporters that Spain is “a firm commitment to our capabilities goals” and is a “serious country that meets its commitment.”
Rutte more or less questioned reporters at the end of the summit that they could do so based on their national capabilities targets and estimates of the amounts that would cost them to reach them.
Belgian Prime Minister Bad de Weber also expressed skepticism, telling reporters before the summit on Wednesday morning, “If we can do that (reach a capacity target of less than 3.5% of GDP), we will try to do it too.”
“But NATO is not stupid. If they say they’re going to be 3.5% to get it done, that’s probably true,” he added.
Greek Prime Minister Kiliakos Mitotakis said the targets should be “binding and address all 32 members of the Alliance.”
For Trump, Spain’s attitude is “awful” and he adds, “I don’t know what the problem is.” He said he would “pay twice as much” in other ways.
Allies have agreed to review progress on their spending trajectory in 2029 and set new capacity goals according to the geopolitical situation.
Trump’s commitment to Article 5
Article 5 of the NATO Establishment Treaty is a collective defense clause that states that an attack on one ally is an attack on all of them.
Since then, Trump has denounced his reelection on his European allies for not spending enough on their own defense, suggesting that the US could choose not to support attacks under attack if spending is low.
When asked, when he was flying to The Hague for the summit, Trump told reporters whether he had continued to commit:
“But I’m committed to being their friend (…). I’m committed to helping them.”
The Summit Declaration states that all 32 allies, including the United States, will “reaffirm the iron round-shaped commitment to collective defense as stated in Article 5 of the Washington Convention.
Latte and most European leaders have publicly said the US “revealed it with uncertain words today,” and that there is no doubt about Washington’s commitment to European security.
Ukraine has become debilitated
For Latte, one of the “resonating” messages that emerged from the summit was the Alliance’s “continuous support” for Ukraine.
“Our aim is to keep Ukraine in the battle it is today and to enjoy lasting peace in the future,” he said, reiterating the war-torn country being on the “irreversible path to NATO.”
This formula was introduced in a declaration that came out of the 2024 summit in Washington, where the term Ukraine appeared about 60 times. The allies also said that strong, independent and democratic Ukraine is “essential to the security and stability of the Euro-Atlantic region” and “a direct contribution to the security of the Euro-Atlantic region.”
However, this year’s declaration only mentions the word Ukraine twice. “The Allies reaffirm their enduring sovereignty commitment to provide support to Ukraine, where our security contributes to ours, and for this purpose, this includes Ukrainian defense and its direct contribution to the defense industry in calculating the defence spending of the Allies.”
Sources from NATO Allied countries told Euronows that they are confident in the powerful language that links Ukraine’s security with NATO security.
This has been the area of discussion over the past few weeks regarding the strength and relevance of Ukraine throughout the final statement. In the weeks and months leading up to the summit, there were even several stories about whether Ukrainian President Voldy Mirzelensky would be invited to a leader’s dinner hosted by the King and Queen of the Netherlands.
Not inviting Zelenskyy would have been a “PR disaster,” another source told Euronows.
However, allies have struggled to explain that, with the exception of the US, Ukraine’s journey to NATO membership has not ended suddenly, but has only ended slowing down.
“There is a path to Ukraine’s NATO membership, but of course once more, once the terms are permitted and the allies agree.”
“At this point, the Allies have not agreed to that particular decision right now, but I am confident, and I am also confident that this decision will be made regarding NATO and the European Union,” he told Euroneus in The Hague.
Spoo pointed out that one reason for the pivot to leave Ukraine is his intentional narrow focus on spending at the summit.
“This is about spending and it is about NATO’s capabilities. Therefore, it can be interpreted indirectly or directly, and it also emphasizes the importance of Ukraine,” he said.
Zelenskyy met with Trump and the summit bystanders, later describing him as “very nice” and saying he was “better.”
The two men held a highly controversial meeting in their oval office in February.
“He wants to see it (the war) is over,” Trump said. “I’m going to talk to Vladimir Putin, see if we can finish it.”
Russia receives only one mention
The US intervention is also behind how short the Russian mention is to declare, sources told Euronows.
The document states that the allies are “united in the face of serious security threats and challenges, particularly the long-term threats that Russia poses to Euro-Atlantic security.”
Asked about his contact with Putin, Trump told reporters that he wanted to resolve the war in Ukraine, but that “it’s possible,” he said, saying that he could have designs on other European territories.
“I think I’m the one who thinks he’s misguided,” Trump added.
Non-US sources close to negotiations have stated that on terms of anonymity they were not unhappy with the language about Russia and the fact that it was the only other country it was mentioned. This, they said, showed that NATO was back in what is called “core business.”
The US has claimed for the past few years that the Indo-Pacific and China will be mentioned.
