NATO foreign ministers set to discuss defense investment

By Agnes Szucs

BRUSSELS (AA) – A meeting of NATO foreign affairs ministers is continuing on Wednesday with discussions of boosting defense investment and countering challenges coming from Russia and China.

At the meeting, NATO foreign ministers will assess the new challenges threatening the alliance, including the “growing strategic competition” and “China's increasing alignment with Russia,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said when opening the session.

He stressed the need to continue supporting Ukraine, as well as partners such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, and Georgia, all of which “face pressure from Russia.”

The foreign ministers will also talk about how to raise defense spending to meet the needs of “a contested and dangerous world,” Stoltenberg added.

He said he expects NATO allies to adopt a more ambitious “investment pledge with 2% of GDP as a minimum to be invested in defense” at the NATO leaders’ summit this July in Vilnius, Lithuania.

On day one of the meeting, the allies agreed to launch a multi-year program to support modernization of the Ukrainian army and reaffirmed NATO’s backing for Kyiv in the face of Russia’s war.

On Tuesday, Finland joined NATO as its 31st member, in the process roughly doubling the alliance’s border with Russia.​​​​​​​