The United States says the UK and all other NATO allies must agree to spend at least 5% of national income on defence and security “starting now”.
Matthew Whitaker, Donald Trump’s ambassador to the NATO alliance, said: “Let me cut to the core of our message: 5%”
He continued: “Peace through strength means nothing less, and it demands it equally from all allies. This is not going to be just a pledge. This is going to be a commitment.
“Every ally must commit to investing at least 5% of GDP in defence and security, starting now.”
The warning comes after Sky News revealed on Tuesday that Sir Keir Starmer would be forced to agree to lift pure defence spending to 3.5% of GDP and spend a further 1.5% on defence-related areas by the 2030s as part of a NATO push to rearm and to keep the US on side.
Yet as late as Monday, the prime minister was still talking merely about an “ambition” to increase investment in the UK’s armed forces to 3% from 2.3% by 2034 – even as he launched a major review of defence.
The position caused bemusement inside the Ministry of Defence (MoD) where officials believe it is inevitable that the UK position will change.
The US ambassador was speaking to journalists ahead of two days of meetings of Defence Ministers at NATO HQ in Brussels, the last before NATO leaders meet at a summit in the Hague later this month.
“The Hague summit will be a moment to lock these commitments in,” he said.
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The 5% defence spending commitment is central to US plans for the summit, with European leaders hoping also to secure support for Ukraine and a reinforced posture towards Russia in summit conclusions.
Underlining the weight of expectation of the US administration, the ambassador said: “This is not a suggestion. It’s a baseline for deterrence.”
It comes as NATO secretary general Mark Rutte said that alliance nations will find themselves “in great difficulty” in the coming years unless they go over the current 2% of GDP spending target.
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Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Mr Rutte said: “The expectation is that on the European side of NATO and the Canadian side of NATO, if we think that we can keep ourselves safe sticking with the 2%, forget it.
“Yes, the next three to five years, but then we are in great difficulty. And the US rightly expects us to spend much more to defend ourselves with their help, but also to equalise, which is only fair with what the US is spending on defence.”
Mr Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister, is thought to want member states to commit to spending 3.5% on the military, with a further 1.5% on defence-related measures.
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Defence Secretary John Healey said on Tuesday that the UK already “makes a huge contribution to NATO” amid speculation about what the body will call for.
The UK’s defence review “has NATO at its heart”, he said, pointing out that Britain was “the only country with a nuclear deterrent that commits it in full to other NATO nations”.
