Nato touts European spending on Ukraine as it awaits US defence chief

BRUSSELS – European Nato members are aiming to demonstrate to the Trump administration the full scope of their financial support for Ukraine as they are set to meet new US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.

With the future of the United States’

aid commitment to Kyiv

unclear, Nato defence ministers are hoping to learn more about US President Donald Trump’s demands on the alliance when they meet in Brussels this week.

Allies are expecting Mr Trump to keep pushing for more European spending and fairer burden sharing, as well as calling for a swift end to the war in Ukraine.

But they are also hoping to hear that the US commitment to the alliance will not waver, according to several diplomats.

Mr Hegseth will take part in a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group on Feb 12 and then in a full gathering of the alliance’s defence ministers on Feb 13. Their Ukrainian counterpart, Mr Rustem Umerov, is also expected to join.

Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte touted a 20 per cent increase in defence spending from non-US Nato allies in 2024, compared to 2023.

He told reporters on Feb 12 that these non-US allies gave more than half of some €50 billion (S$70 billion) in aid delivered to Ukraine in 2024.

During his first presidency, Mr Trump frequently criticised Europe for lacklustre defence spending, and those attacks have continued through recent weeks.

Mr Trump recently said Nato countries

should spend 5 per cent

of their gross domestic product on defence, a figure no single ally reaches, not even the US.

The alliance is expected to revise its current spending target of 2 per cent in the coming months, which many, but not all members, now meet.

Internally, Nato planners estimate that between 3.5 and 3.7 per cent of GDP would be needed to satisfy all the military requirements for the alliance’s defence plans, according to people familiar with the matter.

Separately, foreign ministers from France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, as well as top European Union diplomat Kaja Kallas and new Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius, are due to discuss Ukraine in Paris on Feb 12. BLOOMBERG