US defense secretary reiterates call for 5% rise in NATO spending

By Nur Asena Erturk

The US defense secretary Thursday reiterated the call for an increase of up to 5% in NATO spending.

In a joint news conference with NATO chief Mark Rutte in Brussels, Pete Hegseth recalled US President Donald Trump’s call, and said: “The president has said 2% is not enough, and we are going to argue that up to 5% is the necessary investment from NATO countries to ensure we are able to meet the threats of the future.”

In a previous statement on Wednesday, Hegseth called for increased defense spending and said the earlier target of 2% of the annual GDP is not enough and that Trump has called for 5%.

Hegseth also stressed the need to strengthen the defense industrial base for Europe and the US.

“We need the ability to create the systems and the ammunitions necessary to sustain a fight,” he added.

Hegseth also hailed Trump’s conversations late Wednesday with Ukrainian and Russian presidents, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin, on ending the war in Ukraine.

“There is one man in the world capable of convening the parties together to bring peace, and that is President Donald Trump,” Hegseth said.

Rutte, for his part, backed Hegseth’s remarks, saying: “We have to ramp up defense spending because we know we cannot protect ourselves four or five years from now if we do not.”

He also said all allies agreed that there must be peace in Ukraine, that it must be durable, and that Ukraine must be “in a position of strength.”

Zelenskyy said Wednesday he had a “meaningful conversation” with Trump and “talked about opportunities to achieve peace.”

Trump also spoke to Putin, who supported his view that the time has come for them to “work together.”