Britain and France have shot down a proposal for NATO member states to allocate 0.25 per cent of GDP to military aid to Ukraine, The Telegraph has reported.
Earlier this week, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte admitted that his plan would not be implemented because it did not receive enough support.
“I don’t think this proposal will be tabled,” he told reporters without naming opponents.
According to The Telegraph, the idea has been blocked by Britain, France, Spain, Italy and Canada.
Rutte had hoped to approve the proposal at the upcoming annual NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.
Ministers this week began discussing what the alliance’s civilian leader said should be a concrete show of support for the war-torn country.
“An alliance insider said at least seven member states that spend more than 0.25 per cent of GDP on military aid to Ukraine have expressed their support. However, any proposals adopted by NATO require unanimous support from all national capitals of alliance members,” the report said.
According to publicly available data compiled by the Kiel Institute, the Netherlands, Poland and the Nordic and Baltic countries are providing aid at or above 0.25 per cent of GDP. The size of the UK’s military contribution-the third largest after the US and Germany-is also not in question, despite falling short of the 0.25 per cent of GDP mark.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged to contribute at least £3bn a year – about 0.1% of GDP – in the near future.
Most of the complaints relate to countries such as France, Spain, Italy and Canada, which have been repeatedly accused of not contributing. These countries, three of which are Europe’s third, fourth and fifth largest economies, lag behind many of their smaller allies in terms of aid levels.
Rutte argues that aid to Ukraine is “not evenly distributed within NATO” and many countries are “not spending enough to support Ukraine.”
The NATO chief, who served as prime minister of the Netherlands for 14 years, has long argued that Europe should take greater responsibility for supporting Ukraine, in response to Donald Trump’s complaints about “freebies” from the continent.
A spokesman for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said, “The UK continues to work with NATO allies on all proposals to ensure the alliance’s support for Ukraine is the best possible”.
Representatives of France, Italy, Spain and Canada did not respond to The Telegraph’s requests for comment.