NATO foreign ministers in Sweden are preparing for an Alliance summit scheduled for 7-8 July in Turkey. One of the key topics of the meeting of officials and later leaders will be defence spending, agreed last year in The Hague, and the sources for channelling it.
“The funds are really coming in … We are literally talking about tens and later hundreds of billions of additional defence spending. Money is great, but it has to be spent. And not just on the men and women in uniform, but on making sure they have everything they need to deter and defend. This means increasing defence industrial production,” Secretary General Mark Rutte said when arriving for a meeting in Sweden on May 22, Radio Liberty reports.
The top official described discussions with relevant market players to ensure that defence production is increased and not “just price increases”. Rutte pointed to progress, but acknowledged that much work remains to be done.
The discussion on further support for Ukraine, which is also on the ministers’ agenda, will focus primarily on fair burden-sharing among allies. In particular, the PURL packages for Ukraine are regularly bought by the same states, the NATO Secretary General said.
“Right now, only six or seven Allies are bearing the brunt. The good news is that their efforts are enough to ensure that Ukraine continues to get access to critical U.S. equipment. But it would be fair for other European NATO allies to step up as well,” Rutte said.
The NATO ministerial meeting comes as European allies seek reassurances amid concerns over possible US military drawdown and Washington’s changing rhetoric towards the alliance.
The meeting, which takes place in Helsingborg on 22 May, is one of the last high-level ministerial meetings before NATO leaders gather for a summit in Ankara in July.