In its premiere with NATO ministers, US Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegesh, has thrown a jug of cold water on Ukraine’s expectations of being part of the Atlantic Alliance by ensuring that it is not “realistic.” However, the allies promised kyiv their future adhesion, although without putting any date. At the last summit held in Washington, they gave the step to ensure that the path of membership was “irreversible.”
For the new administration it is not realistic to think that this can be a scenario after a hypothetical peace agreement. Likewise, Hegseth has ruled out that he will recover Crimea. “We want, as you, a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine, but we must begin by recognizing that returning to the borders of Ukraine prior to 2014 is an unrealistic objective. Pursuing this illusory objective will only prolong the war and will cause more suffering, ”said the Secretary of State before the Ukrainian support contact group that has gathered on the eve of the interministerial meeting of NATO in Brussels.
Pressure for spending more in defense
The pressure for allies to increase their defense expend New spending target above 2% of GDP agreed ten years ago. That threshold has become obsolete for many of the governments and the return to the White House of Donald Trump, which has come to talk about 5%, has dragged even more about the debate. “Those who are not yet in 2%, please arrive before summer,” said NATO general, Mark Rutte, at the press conference prior to his appointment with the defense ministers.
Spain is among the countries to which that pressure is directed. With 1.24%compared to GDP, it is the third country that spends the least in defense ahead of Belgium (1.21%) and Luxembourg (1.01%) while the whole of the allies spend 2.54% . Pedro Sánchez said that Spain will reach the threshold of 2% in 2029 and government sources say that the plan is immovable despite the pressure and the inevitable increase that will be agreed both in NATO and the EU.
The Spanish government argument is that, beyond 2% of the expense, what was agreed at the Summit of Wales in 2014 also included objectives regarding equipment and capacities as well as participation in missions. And what he maintains is that Spain is in the lead in those two parts. In addition, other contributions to common security such as the fight against terrorism should be taken into account. That same argument, although with the protection of the borders by immigration, is the one that the Italy of the ultra -rightist Giorgia Meloni wields.
Rutte has continued to prepare the land for an elevation of military spending, which inevitably takes its toll on other budget items, as he himself acknowledged by asking that a “small fraction” of what is destined for pensions or health will go to defense. “We are sure now, our deterrence and defense is strong at this time, but not in four or five years if we do not make some difficult decisions this year,” said the Dutchman, who has insisted again that Russia spends about 10% of Your GDP in defense.
The NATO general secretary has also sent a reassuring message about Trump’s position regarding the war in Ukraine by ensuring that the Atlantic Alliance has an “intensive coordination” with his team. “There is a convergence in the vision that Ukraine has to be in the best position,” he explained. “It has to be strong on the battlefield to get strong to the negotiating table,” he remembers about the need for allies to continue giving him “what he needs” in terms of training or military equipment.
Waiting for Trump to present a plan to end the war, which is expected in the next few days at the Munich Security Summit, Routte has opted for the solution to which it is reached in an eventual negotiating table is “” lasting ”.
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