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

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday (local time) said that all members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) will agree on achieving the goal of spending the equivalent of five per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defence over the next decade.

 

Rubio made these remarks in an interview with Fox News. He said, "I can tell you that we are headed for a summit in six weeks, in which virtually every member of Nato will be at or above two per cent but more importantly, many of them will be over 4 per cent and all will have agreed on the goal of reaching 5 per cent over the next decade."

 

 

Ahead of the Nato Summit 2025, scheduled for 24–25 June, Rubio highlighted how US President Donald Trump, during his first term, had pointed out the varying contributions made by different countries. He recalled that during the 2018 Nato Summit, Trump criticised member states for spending less than one per cent of their GDP on defence.

 

Rubio claimed this would be the first time in Nato's history that partners would collectively reach their spending targets and goals. 

 

Rubio's comments come after Nato foreign ministers met in Turkiye on 14–15 May to discuss increasing defence expenditure. Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that the current two per cent target is "nearly not enough" and urged member states to invest more in military capabilities, infrastructure, and resilience to address growing security challenges.

 

In a statement, Stoltenberg said, "We have to make sure that we spend enough money all over Nato to keep ourselves safe." He stressed that increased spending would be crucial to meeting Nato’s new capability targets and deterring aggression.

 

Rubio, along with Nato allies including Germany, the UK, France, and Italy, has also agreed on the need to boost defence spending.