NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has acknowledged Russia’s notable progress in military production and emphasised the need for the alliance to increase its output to surpass Moscow in this sector.
Speaking at the opening of the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Antalya, Rutte highlighted that ministers would focus on the defence industry and the necessity for greater production across member states, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media.
He pointed out that Russia has been successful in this field, signalling that NATO must accelerate its efforts to outproduce Russia in defence industrial output.
Rutte also underlined that enhanced efforts by NATO’s defence sector should support Ukraine in its ongoing conflict.
Earlier, Rutte expressed optimism that an agreement on raising the defence budget will be reached at next month’s NATO summit in the Netherlands. He stated that members aim to "work together to ensure a successful Summit in The Hague."
Ahead of the meeting, Rutte proposed that member states should raise defence expenditure to 3.5 per cent of GDP by 2032. Additionally, he recommended allocating a further 1.5 per cent of GDP towards security-related expenses. According to the secretary general, this approach would allow the alliance to achieve Trump’s 5 per cent goal.
NATO officials have indicated that foreign ministers are likely to review the practicality of these numerical targets and the proposed timeline during their discussions.
In turn, US President Donald Trump has called on NATO countries to increase their defence spending to 5 per cent of their GDP.
By Aghakazim Guliyev
Source: caliber.az
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