US' Tillerson: NATO allies must boost defense spending

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - NATO allies have two months to produce a "concrete plan" on how they will boost their defense spending to meet the alliance's financial obligations, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned Friday.

"As President Trump has made clear, it is no longer sustainable for the U.S. to maintain a disproportionate share of NATO’s defense expenditures," Tillerson reportedly said during a gathering of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.

"Our goal should be to agree at the May leaders meeting that by the end of the year all allies will have either met the pledge guidelines or will have developed plans that clearly articulate how, with annual milestone progress commitments, the pledge will be fulfilled," he said, according to The Associated Press.

He did not outline what consequences would be incurred if the member states failed to meet the demand, but said the U.S. would continue to comply with its obligations to defend member states.

NATO countries agreed in 2014 to a non-binding defense spending target of 2 percent of their GDP by 2024.

Besides the U.S., just four members have met the goal: the U.K., Poland, Greece and Estonia.

TIllerson's remarks were met with skepticism by fellow top diplomats, including Germany’s, who said meeting the goal would be "unrealistic".

Tillerson originally planned to skip the Brussels meet, citing a scheduling conflict, but the transatlantic alliance changed dates to accommodate the envoy.