US President Donald Trump on Wednesday lauded NATO's "tremendous" summit in the Hague as leaders wrapped up a meeting that saw the alliance back his demand to ramp up defence spending, reports BSS.
"I think the summit was fantastic. It was a big success," Trump told Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof.
Meanwhile, in a short statement, NATO endorsed a higher defence spending goal of 5 percent of GDP by 2035 – a response to a demand by United States President Donald Trump and to Europeans’ fears that Russia poses a growing threat to their security.
NATO leaders said the defence pledge would consist of investments of at least 3.5 percent of GDP per year in core defence requirements.
They also vowed to spend up to 1.5 percent of GDP on security-related expenditures including protection of critical infrastructure and strengthening the alliance’s defence industrial base.
These investments were needed to face “profound security threats”, the leaders said, citing the “long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security and the persistent threat of terrorism.”
The member states reaffirmed their “enduring sovereign commitments” to support Ukraine, but left out references to Ukraine’s possible future membership of the alliance, that had been included in some previous summit declarations.
Bd-pratidin English/TR
