Leaders from NATO and the European Union met in Finland to discuss increasing defense spending in response to the ongoing war in Ukraine and the incoming Trump administration.
A group of four NATO leaders and a representative from the European Union on Sunday said they agreed it was time to invest more in defense spending as Russia remains a chief security threat in Europe amid the war in Ukraine , and as Western leaders brace for the incoming Trump administration.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis argued the era of spending 2% of a nation’s GDP on defense was 'probably history' but he, along with the other four leaders in attendance at the North-South Summit in Lapland, Finland fell short of saying what that figure should look like. 'We know that we need to spend more than 2%,' Mitsotakis said. 'But it will become very clear… once we interact with the new president, what is the figure that we will agree on within NATO.' The summit was convened by Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, and was also attended by Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. The leaders were questioned about a recent report by the Financial Times that said President-elect Donald Trump intends to push NATO to increase its defense spending requirement from 2% to 5% — a requirement that would demand all nations, including the U.S. which spends just over 3% of its GDP, to drastically increase spending on defense. The Trump transition team did not answer Fox News Digital’s questions on whether Trump is going to be pushing all NATO nations, including the U.S., to drastically ramp up defense spending. Instead, a spokesperson for the Trump transition team said, 'President Trump believes European nations should meet their NATO defense spending obligations and step up their share of the burden for this conflict, as the U.S. has paid significantly more, which is not fair to our taxpayers. He will do what is necessary to restore peace and rebuild American strength and deterrence on the world stage
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