WASHINGTON, D.C. – NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told defense industry members that NATO countries will try to boost their defenses. At the Summit, NATO countries will sign a new Transatlantic Defense Industry Cooperation to help meet their military needs.
NATO is not only a political alliance but its a military alliance. The alliance claims they are successful at deterring attacks because they have the backing of many countries. In this new agreement, it would build more contracts with defense companies to get critical weapons like patriot missiles, land combat rockets and other munitions which will cost billions of dollars in total.
With the war in Ukraine as a backdrop, Stoltenberg emphasized it’s crucial to build up NATO’s defenses. In order to do that, he is urging countries to start paying their two-percent GDP minimum towards NATO.
“So that two percent is no longer a sort of ceiling, but two percent is now the floor for our defense spending,” said Stoltenberg. “So it’s not complacent, it’s not good enough for now.”
Out of the 32 countries in NATO, only 23 meet or exceed that amount. The United States is the biggest contributor to the alliance.
As for Ukraine, Stoltenberg said by building up NATO’s defenses and building partnerships with defense companies, it would help Ukraine in the war against Russia. He hopes that defense companies will be able to help NATO countries, including Ukraine, become more self-sufficient in building their own weapons.