NATO to include Ukraine aid in new 5% defense spending target

European Pravda reports this in an article.

The new spending target is expected to be divided as follows: 3.5% of GDP for direct military needs, and another 1.5% for broader security projects, including infrastructure.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, responding to questions from European Pravda before the ministerial meeting on June 4, stated that the increased spending would not negatively affect support for Ukraine.

"It would be strange and not wise if in NATO we would make decisions on spending more and then doing it in such a way that it would somehow work against Ukraine getting what it needs going forward to stay in the fight… We will design the new investment plan in such a way that it will not impact the way our allies are working with Ukraine to make sure that you have what you need to stay in the fight," Rutte said.

NATO already counts part of the aid to the Armed Forces of Ukraine as spending on "hard security," such as equipment purchases.

This approach will continue, and the summit in The Hague will likely officially allow countries to also count aid to Ukraine within the 1.5% "soft security" component.

Rutte specifically informed allied governments about this in a closed letter, outlining a draft decision to increase defense spending.

This letter caused some disagreement among allies, with some arguing that now all aid to the Armed Forces of Ukraine should be shifted from the "hard" to the "soft" security category.

According to sources speaking to European Pravda, Ukraine actively urged its allies not to limit aid accounting to the "soft" category only, since the 3.5% of GDP for military spending represents a much larger resource.

Currently, the NATO consensus is to allow member countries flexibility in deciding which category to assign their aid to Ukraine, depending on its nature.

“We want to give allies maximum flexibility regarding which component they include Ukraine aid in,” a senior official involved in developing the Alliance’s new targets explained to journalists in Brussels.

According to him, this allocation will depend on the type of aid, “because not everything we provide to Ukraine can be counted as military support.”

• On May 21, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte explained that NATO’s 32 member countries will discuss Ukraine’s military needs and long-term peace efforts to ensure the country’s strategic position amid ongoing war.