Page 2 - Nato Alliance

Nato weighs US demand to hike defence spend as some fail to meet goal

NATO foreign ministers on Thursday debated an American demand to massively ramp up defence investment to five per cent of gross domestic product over the next seven years, as the US focuses on security challenges outside of Europe. At talks in Antalya, Turkiye, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said that more investment and military equipment are needed to deal with the threat posed by Russia and terrorism, but also by China which has become the focus of US concern. When it comes to the core defence spending, we need to do much, much more, Rutte told reporters. He underlined that once the war in Ukraine is over, Russia could reconstitute its armed forces within 3-5 years. Secretary of State Marco Rubio underlined that the alliance is only as strong as its weakest link. He insisted that the US investment demand is about spending money on the capabilities that are needed for the threats of the 21st century. The debate on defence spending is heating up ahead of a summit of US Presiden

Nato chief urges allies to spend at least 3.5% of GDP on defence: Dutch PM

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said Friday that NATO's chief wants the 32 member countries to agree to start spending at least 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product on their defence budgets at a summit in the Netherlands next month. In 2023, as Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine entered its second year, NATO leaders agreed that all allies should spend at least 2 per cent of GDP. They are expected to set a new goal at a meeting in The Hague on June 25. President Donald Trump insists that US allies should commit to spending at least 5 per cent, but that would require investment at an unprecedented scale. Still, Trump has cast doubt over whether the United States would defend allies that spend too little. Schoof told reporters that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has written to the member nations to tell them that he expects the NATO summit to aim for 3.5 per cent hard military spending by 2032. Rutte also wrote that he expects a commitment to 1.5 per cent related spending

Rubio arrives for Nato talks as allies await US plans on Europe drawdown

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Trump administration's new envoy to NATO arrived Thursday in Brussels, where the alliance's top diplomats are hoping they'll shed light on US security plans in Europe. European allies and Canada are deeply concerned by President Donald Trump's readiness to draw closer to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who sees NATO as a threat, as the US works to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine. Recent White House comments and insults directed at NATO allies Canada and Denmark as well as the military alliance itself have raised alarm and confusion, especially with new US tariffs targeting US friends and foes alike. Since Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth warned last month that US security priorities lie elsewhere in Asia and on the US's own borders the Europeans have waited to learn how big a military drawdown in Europe could be and how fast it may happen. In Europe and Canada, governments are working on burden shifting plans to take over more of the load, .

Wary Europe awaits US Secretary of State Rubio with Nato's future on line

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio travels this week to a gathering of top diplomats from NATO countries and is sure to find allies that are alarmed, angered and confused by the Trump administration's desire to reestablish ties with Russia and its escalating rhetorical attacks on longtime transatlantic partners. Allies are deeply concerned by President Donald Trump's readiness to draw closer to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who sees NATO as a threat, amid a U.S. effort to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine. Recent White House comments and insults directed at NATO allies Canada and Denmark as well as the military alliance itself have only increased the angst, especially as new US tariffs are taking effect against friends and foes alike. Rubio arrives in Brussels on Thursday for two days of meetings with his NATO counterparts and European officials, and he can expect to be confronted with questions about the future US role in the alliance. For 75 years, NATO has been anchored on American

Senate confirms Matt Whitaker as Donald Trump's ambassador to Nato

The Senate confirmed Matt Whitaker late Tuesday as President Donald Trump's US ambassador to NATO, a crucial emissary to the Western alliance at a time of growing concern about the American commitment abroad. Whitaker, who had served in Trump's first administration at the Justice Department, brings a law enforcement background rather than deep foreign policy or national security ties. He was confirmed by the Senate on a vote of 52-45. During a confirmation hearing, Whitaker assured senators that the Trump administration's commitment to the military alliance was ironclad. Trump has long been skeptical, and often hostile, toward the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which was formed by the US and other countries in the aftermath of World War II as a deterrent to potential aggression from what was then the Soviet Union. The US commitment has been called into question due to Trump's sharp criticism of European allies and his eagerness to build ties with Russian President Vladimir Put

EU urges citizens to stockpile three days of supplies in case of crisis

The European Union on Wednesday urged citizens across the continent to stockpile food, water and other essentials to last at least 72 hours as war, cyberattacks, climate change and disease increase the chances of a crisis. The call to action for the EU's 450 million citizens comes as the 27-nation bloc rethinks its security, especially after the Trump administration warned that Europe must take more responsibility for it. In recent years, the EU has weathered COVID-19 and the threat from Russia, including its attempts to exploit Europe's dependence on its natural gas to weaken support for Ukraine. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has warned that Russia could be capable of launching another attack in Europe by 2030. Today's threats facing Europe are more complex than ever, and they are all interconnected, said Preparedness and Crisis Management Commissioner Hadja Lahbib as she unveiled a new strategy for dealing with future disasters. While the commission is keen not to be seen as

Trump confident US will annex Greenland, says Nato chief could be key

Trump said the US needs Greenland for international security and hinted at future discussions on the matter

Trump casts doubt on Nato solidarity, despite it aiding US after Sept 11

President Donald Trump on Thursday expressed uncertainty that NATO would come to the US's defence if the country were attacked, though the alliance did just that after September 11 the only time in its history that the defence guarantee has been invoked. Trump also suggested that the US might abandon its commitments to the alliance if member countries don't meet defence spending targets, a day after his pick for NATO ambassador assured senators that the administration's commitment to the military alliance was ironclad. Trump's comments denigrating NATO, which was formed to counter Soviet aggression during the Cold War, are largely in line with his yearslong criticism of the alliance, which he has accused of not paying its fair share toward the cost of defence. But they come at a time of heightened concern in the Western world over Trump's cozy relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has long seen NATO as a threat, and as the US president seeks to pressure Ukraine in

Nato must decline membership promise to Ukraine: Russia's foreign ministry

Zakharova said that Ukraine needed to return to the position of its 1990 declaration of sovereignty from the Soviet Union, in which Kyiv said that it would become a permanently neutral state

US, including Biden's admin, never saw Ukraine as Nato member: Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the United States, including the Biden administration, never saw Ukraine as a NATO member. Zelenskyy spoke Friday to the Munich Security Conference. He is expected to meet with US Vice President JD Vance later. Many observers, particularly in Europe, hope Vance will shed at least some light on US President Donald Trump's ideas for a negotiated settlement to the war following a phone call between Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin this week.

Nato allies insist Ukraine and Europe must not be cut out of peace talks

Several NATO allies stressed on Thursday that Ukraine and Europe must not be cut out of any peace negotiations, after US President Donald Trump signalled that he would hold talks soon with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Let's not forget, Russia remains a threat well beyond Ukraine, UK Defence Secretary John Healey after the United States rattled NATO by saying that Ukraine should never join the alliance and that European allies should take responsibility for Ukraine's security going forward. There can be no negotiation about Ukraine without Ukraine. And Ukraine's voice must be at the heart of any talks, Healey told reporters at NATO headquarters, as the organization's 32 defense ministers met for talks on Ukraine. Swedish Defence Minister Pal Jonson said European nations provided about 60% of the military support to Ukraine last year and must be involved, especially given US. demands that Europe take more responsibility for Ukraine's security in the longer term. It's very natura

US defence secy Hegseth rejects troops support, Nato membership for Ukraine

The comments amounted to a major reorientation of US policy as President Donald Trump looks for ways to bring the war in Ukraine to an end

Nato's Dragone meets Zelenskyy, discusses military aid, long-range drones

Zelenskyy also expressed gratitude for Dragone's first foreign visit to Ukraine

Nato is deploying eyes in sky and on Baltic Sea to protect vital cables

With its powerful camera, the French Navy surveillance plane scouring the Baltic Sea zoomed in on a cargo ship ploughing the waters below closer, closer and closer still until the camera operator could make out details on the vessel's front deck and smoke pouring from its chimney. The long-range Atlantique 2 aircraft on a new mission for NATO then shifted its high-tech gaze onto another target, and another after that until, after more than five hours on patrol, the plane's array of sensors had scoped out the bulk of the Baltic from Germany in the west to Estonia in the northeast, bordering Russia. The flight's mere presence in the skies above the strategic sea last week, combined with military ships patrolling on the waters, also sent an unmistakable message: The NATO alliance is ratcheting up its guard against suspected attempts to sabotage underwater energy and data cables and pipelines that crisscross the Baltic, prompted by a growing catalogue of incidents that have damaged ...

Not sure if US should be spending anything on Nato, says Donald Trump

Washington finances 15.8 per cent of the 32-member military alliance's yearly expenditure of around $3.5 billion, joint-largest share, alongside Germany

Nato launches new Baltic sentry mission to protect undersea cables

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte announced on Tuesday that the alliance is launching a new mission to protect undersea cables in the Baltic Sea region. Rutte said at a meeting in Helsinki with the leaders of NATO countries located on the Baltic Sea that the effort would be dubbed Baltic Sentry. It will involve a range of assets, including frigates and maritime patrol aircraft, among others, and will enhance our vigilance in the Baltic, Rutte told reporters. He also said that a small fleet of naval drones will be deployed to provide enhanced surveillance and deterrence. The meeting comes as a string of incidents in the Baltic has heightened concerns about possible Russian activities in the region.

Biden says he's leaving Trump with 'strong hand to play' in world conflicts

President Joe Biden said on Monday that his stewardship of American foreign policy has left the US safer and economically more secure, arguing that President-elect Donald Trump will inherit a nation viewed as stronger and more reliable than it was four years ago. Biden trumpeted his administration's work on expanding NATO, rallying allies to provide Ukraine with military aid to fight Russia and bolstering American chip manufacturing to better compete with China during a wide-ranging speech to reflect on his foreign policy legacy a week before ceding the White House to Trump. Biden's case for his achievements will be shadowed and shaped, at least in the near term, by the messy counterfactual that American voters once again turned to Trump and his protectionist worldview. And he will leave office at a turbulent moment for the globe, with a series of conflicts raging. "Thanks to our administration, the US is winning the worldwide competition compared to four years ago," Biden said in h

US lawmaker reintroduces bill to end Pakistan's major non-Nato ally status

Initially introduced by Biggs in January 2019, the bill has been reintroduced in every subsequent Congress but has not advanced legislatively in any attempt

Trump's Nato push: Higher defence spending, continued aid to Ukraine

Trump plans to push Nato allies to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP while continuing aid to Ukraine, marking a significant shift in his foreign policy approach

Want Ukraine in stronger position for peace talks with Russia: Nato leader

NATO's secretary-general said he wants to discuss ways to put Ukraine in a position of strength for any future peace talks with Russia during a meeting on Wednesday with Ukraine's president and a small number of European leaders. But Mark Rutte appeared frustrated at growing speculation in NATO capitals about when those peace talks might start and whether European peacekeepers would be involved, saying that speaking publicly about it plays into the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin. "High on the agenda is to make sure that the president, his team in Ukraine, are in the best possible position one day when they decide so to start the peace talks," Rutte told reporters as he welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to his residence in Brussels. The focus, Rutte said, must be "to do everything now to make sure that when it comes to air defence, when it comes to other weapons systems, that we make sure that we provide whatever we can". He said that another issue up for .