Page 5 - Nato

NATO on cusp of accepting Trump's 5% defence investment demand, says Rutte

Most U.S. allies at NATO endorse President Donald Trump's demand that they invest 5% of gross domestic product on their defense needs and are ready to ramp up security spending even more, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Thursday. There's broad support, Rutte told reporters after chairing a meeting of NATO defense ministers at the alliance's Brussels headquarters. We are really close, he said, and added that he has total confidence that we will get there by the next NATO summit in three weeks. European allies and Canada have already been investing heavily in their armed forces, as well as on weapons and ammunition, since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. At the same time, some have balked at U.S. demands to invest 5% of GDP on defense 3.5% on core military spending and 1.5% on the roads, bridges, airfields and sea ports needed to deploy armies more quickly. Still struggling to meet the old goal: In 2023, as Russia's full-scale war on Ukraine entered i

Nato set to approve new military purchases as part of defence spending hike

NATO defence ministers are set Thursday to approve plans to buy more weapons and military equipment to better defend Europe, the Arctic and the North Atlantic, as part of a US push to ramp up security spending. The "capability targets" lay out plans for each of the 32 nations to purchase priority equipment like air and missile defence systems, artillery, ammunition, drones and "strategic enablers" such as air-to-air refuelling, heavy air transport and logistics. "Today we decide on the capability targets. From there, we will assess the gaps we have, not only to be able to defend ourselves today, but also three, five, seven years from now," NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said. "All these investments have to be financed," he told reporters before chairing the meeting at NATO's Brussels headquarters. US President Donald Trump and his NATO counterparts will meet on June 24-25 to agree to new military spending targets. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said that "to be an alliance, .

China slams Macron for Taiwan remarks, opposes Nato role in Asia-Pacific

China's foreign ministry rejects comparisons between Taiwan and Ukraine and says Nato has no mandate to expand into the Asia-Pacific region

Ukraine urges air defence aid as West meets without Pentagon chief present

Ukraine's president on Wednesday urged Western backers to speed up deliveries of air defence systems to counter Russian missile strikes and to help boost weapons production. The emphasis should be on US-made Patriot systems, President Volodymyr Zelenskky told a Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels. "These are the most effective way to force Russia to stop its missile strikes and terror, he said via video link, urging representatives of around 50 countries to make good on past pledges. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth did not attend, the first time a Pentagon chief has been absent since the forum for organising Ukraine's military aid was set up three years ago. Hegseth's predecessor, Lloyd Austin, created the group after Russia launched all-out war on Ukraine in 2022. His absence is the latest step that the Trump administration has taken to distance itself from Ukraine's efforts to repel Russia's full-scale invasion, which began on Feb. 24, 2022. M

German chief of defence orders swift expansion of warfare capabilities

By 2029, Russia may have reconstituted its forces sufficiently to attack NATO territory, according to estimates by Breuer and other senior military officials at NATO

Massive drone, missile attack hits Kyiv; residents shelter underground

Ukraine's capital came under a massive combined drone and missile attack late Friday with explosions and machine gun fire heard throughout the city. Many residents of Kyiv are taking shelter in the underground subway stations. The debris of intercepted missiles and drones fell in at least four city districts, acting head of Kyiv military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, wrote on Telegram. According to Tkachenko, six people required medical care after the attack, two fires sparked at Solomianskyi district of Kyiv. Prior to the attack, city mayor Vitalii Klitschko warned Kyiv residents of more than 20 Russian strike drones heading towards Kyiv.

Nato allies to agree on defence spending goal of 5% of GDP by next decade

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Nato members will target five per cent GDP defence spending over next decade ahead of Nato Summit 2025 in June

Nothing will happen until I meet Putin: Trump on Russia-Ukraine peace talks

Donald Trump says no progress will be made in the Russia-Ukraine conflict until he meets Russian President Vladimir Putin directly, casting doubts on imminent peace talks

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

UK steps up Ukraine aid as Western allies rally to secure arms, ammunition

Britain on Friday announced a surge of military support to Ukraine, as the war-ravaged country's Western backers gathered at NATO headquarters to drum up more weapons and ammunition to help fight off the Russian invasion. Britain said that in a joint effort with Norway just over $580 million would be spent to provide hundreds of thousands of military drones, radar systems and anti-tank mines, as well as repair and maintenance contracts to keep Ukrainian armoured vehicles on the battlefield. On the eve of the meeting in Brussels, Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said a key issue was strengthening his country's air defences. Ukraine needs a sufficient number of modern systems like Patriot missile systems, he said in a post on social media. A political decision is needed to supply these systems to protect our cities, towns, and the lives of our people especially from the threat of Russian ballistic weapons. Our partners have such available systems, Umerov said. Russian forces

Defence chiefs from 30 nations to attend Nato talks on future Ukraine force

Britain and France are convening a meeting of defence ministers from around 30 countries on Thursday to press ahead with plans to deploy troops to Ukraine to police any future peace agreement with Russia. The meeting at NATO headquarters the first between defence ministers representing the so-called coalition of the willing comes after a visit to Kyiv last week by senior British and French military officers. It's expected to work on fleshing out an agreement reached at an earlier meeting between leaders. As usual with coalition gatherings, the United States will not take part, but the success of the coalition's operation hinges on US backup with airpower or other military assistance. However, the Trump administration has made no public commitment that it will do so. Amid that uncertainty and US warnings that Europe must take care of its own security and that of Ukraine in future, the force is seen as a first test of the continent's willingness to defend itself and its interests.

Japan interested in joining Nato command for supporting Ukraine's mission

Japan on Tuesday expressed interest in participating in the NATO command for its Ukrainian mission based in Germany in what would be a major boost in ties with the largely European alliance. Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani announced his country's interest during talks with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Tokyo. After providing the war-torn country with defence equipment and support, Japan now wants to join NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine, or NSATU, headquartered at a US base in the German town of Wiesbaden. Details of the mission, including the possibility of sending any Japan Self Defence Force members to Wiesbaden, were still to be discussed. But any Japanese cooperation was not expected to involve combat, in line with what has been Tokyo's post-World War II tradition of limiting its military's role. Nakatani said Japan wants to further deepen security cooperation with NATO and that participation in the NSATU mission would help Tokyo learn lessons fro

US Navy Vice Admiral Chatfield fired in expanding national security purge

The information was not immediately confirmed by the Pentagon. However, the sources told Reuters that allies had been notified that Chatfield had been removed from her job

US is committed to Nato, but Europe must spend more on defence: Rubio

According to NATO estimates, some of the continent's big economies, such as Italy and Spain, are among those below the current 2 per cent target, at around 1.5 per cent and 1.3 per cent respectively

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

In 'surprise visit', US delegation meets Afghanistan's foreign minister

The surprise visit coincides with speculation that the Trump administration 'reassessing' its approach to engaging with the Taliban

After Trump's call, Putin agrees to 30-day halt on striking Ukraine's infra

Following the Trump-Putin call, the Kremlin announced that Ukraine and Russia will exchange 175 prisoners of war each