Donald Trump and his NATO allies confirmed their “ironclad commitment” to collective defence in a communique released at the end of a brief summit in The Hague.
But there was no condemnation of Russia’s war in Ukraine – something that had been in previous statements by allied leaders when Joe Biden was in the White House. His successor has a closer relationship with Vladimir Putin than many of his allies.
The document did describe Russia as a “long-term threat”.
But there was also no word about NATO membership for Ukraine – something that had previously been described an “irreversible path”.
The allies also agreed to spend more on their collective defence.
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The endorsement of Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty came after the US commander-in-chief – the most powerful leader in the room – suggested on his way to the gathering that his definition of what it means may differ from other allies.
The US president’s words risked undermining the credibility of a commitment that has helped ensure the security of NATO for more than 75 years, though the joint statement, approved by the leaders of all 32 member states spelt out clearly what Article 5 constitutes.
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“We reaffirm our ironclad commitment to collective defence as enshrined in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty – that an attack on one is an attack on all,” it said.
“We remain united and steadfast in our resolve to protect our one billion citizens, defend the Alliance, and safeguard our freedom and democracy.”
Sir Keir Starmer and the leaders of all European member states, as well as Canada, are all too aware of Mr Trump’s scepticism about NATO.
He has accused his allies of taking advantage of the US’s far more powerful armed forces to defend Europe and wants the rest of the alliance to take on more of the burden.
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Urgently needing to keep him onside, Mark Rutte, the head of NATO, has been rallying member states to agree to a new pledge to spend 5% of GDP on defence and related areas – a level first touted by Mr Trump.
The statement commits allies to hit this goal by 2035, though Spain has already come out to warn it will agree to the new target but without having a plan to reach it.
The communique reads: “United in the face of profound security threats and challenges, in particular the long term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security and the persistent threat of terrorism, allies commit to invest 5% of GDP annually on core defence requirements as well as defence-and security-related spending by 2035.”
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It is a significant rise, that is broken down into 3.5% of GDP on core defence – up from a previous goal of 2% – and a further 1.5% to be invested in national resilience, such as roads, railways, energy and cyber security.
The final communique was much shorter than usual, comprising just five paragraphs.
In the only mention of Russia’s war in Ukraine, it said: “Allies reaffirm their enduring sovereign commitments to provide support to Ukraine, whose security contributes to ours, and, to this end, will include direct contributions towards Ukraine’s defence and its defence industry when calculating allies’ defence spending.”
Mr Trump has vowed to end Russia’s war in Ukraine but has so far failed to stop the fighting.
