ZDF: Plans to set minimum level for defense spending at NATO summit in July
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that at the alliance’s summit in Vilnius it is planned to announce that the bar for defense spending at the level of two percent of GDP, adopted by the countries of the block in 2014, should become the minimum level of deductions. In addition, politicians may mention that Ukraine will not receive an official invitation to join the organization, German TV channel reports. ZDF.
The Secretary General, at a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, made it clear that he expects more from the allies than deductions of two percent of GDP for defense, the journalists said.
Also, according to Stoltenberg, “the more territory Ukraine can recapture, the better.” The Secretary General suggested that Kyiv would promote this position at the summit in July.
Jens Stoltenberg also clarified that today “calls for negotiations are getting louder”, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “rejects the possibility of negotiations with Russia.”
The journalists of the TV channel reminded that the NATO members could not agree on an official invitation for Ukraine to join the organization. However, Stoltenberg outlined the prospect of a multi-year aid package for Kyiv.
The summit of the alliance will be held in Vilnius on July 11-12.
Earlier, Olaf Scholz said that Western countries should take into account the option that a special military operation in Ukraine will drag on for a long time, and adjust their foreign policy accordingly.
He assured that Berlin would “support Ukraine for as long as necessary”, while excluding such an outcome in which NATO would become one of the parties to the Ukrainian conflict.
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