Multiple NATO allies expressed support Thursday for boosting defense spending, while highlighting the need for Ukraine and other European nations to be a part of any negotiated end to Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The comments came as NATO defense ministers gathered in Brussels for a meeting focused on defense spending targets, boosting industrial capacity and support for Ukraine.
The meeting is taking place amid a U.S. push for NATO allies to commit more of their domestic budgets to defense, and with U.S. President Donald Trump signaling he will soon hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"There can be no negotiation about Ukraine without Ukraine. And Ukraine’s voice must be at the heart of any talks," British Defense Secretary John Healey told reporters just ahead of the ministerial.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Ukraine’s potential membership in NATO and whether it should concede any territory should not be decided before peace talks start.
Pistorius told reporters he regretted what he called concessions made by the United States ahead of any potential negotiations, referencing comments Wednesday by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth who said Ukraine keeping its pre-invasion boundaries is an "unrealistic objective."
Hegseth advocated for a negotiated end to the war with security guarantees backed by European and non-European troops that are deployed under a non-NATO mission. He ruled out deploying U.S. troops to Ukraine.
Luxembourg’s Defense Minister Yuriko Backes told reporters Thursday that all allies need to continue to support Ukraine.
"There are talks about peace plans. Nothing about Ukraine should be decided without Ukraine at the table. Nothing about European security should be decided without Europeans at the table," Backes said.
Hegseth said Thursday that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine "is an urgent, real threat to the continent" and should be a "wake-up call when it comes to defense spending."
He said targets of allies spending 2% of their gross domestic product on defense is not enough, and that pushing higher – even as much as 5% -- is "critical."
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte reiterated his support for higher defense spending.
"It’s only fair, it’s only sensible," he told reporters Thursday.
Rutte said NATO allies are also not producing enough in terms of military production, saying alliance members need to get more output from their huge industrial base in order to keep up with China, Russia and others.
Following Thursday’s NATO ministerial, Hegseth heads to Poland for what the Pentagon said will be talks with leaders about "bilateral defense cooperation, continued deterrence efforts along NATO's eastern flank, and Poland's leadership as a model ally in defense investment and burden-sharing in NATO."
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
