WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that all NATO members will have agreed on a goal of spending the equivalent to 5 percent of GDP on defense over the next decade by the 2025 NATO Summit in June.
He made the comments while appearing on Fox News’ “Hannity.”
US President Donald Trump cut defense funding to NATO during the latter part of his first term in 2017-21, and has frequently complained that the US is paying more than its fair share.
“I can tell you that we are headed for a summit in six weeks, in which virtually every member of NATO will be at or above 2 percent but more importantly, many of them will be over 4 percent and all will have agreed on the goal of reaching 5 percent over the next decade,” said Rubio.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said this week that Berlin backed a demand by Trump for members of the defense alliance to increase defense spending to 5 percent of gross domestic product .
Germany in January said it met NATO’s target of spending 2 percent of its GDP on defense in 2024.
The 2025 NATO Summit will be held in the Netherlands from June 24-25.
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Rubio says NATO members will agree to 5 percent defense spending over next decade by June summit
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Rubio says NATO members will agree to 5 percent defense spending over next decade by June summit
- US President Donald Trump cut defense funding to NATO during the latter part of his first term
Spain says Venezuela freed three more Spanish prisoners
MADRID: Venezuela has freed three more Spanish prisoners following the US ouster of long-time strongman Nicolas Maduro, after five were released last week, Spain’s foreign minister said on Tuesday.
The releases on Monday concerned three Spanish-Venezuelan dual nationals, with one deciding to stay in the South American country and another set to return to Spain, Jose Manuel Albares told Catalunya Radio.
“This is a second step that we consider very positive, and in this new phase we encourage the Venezuelan government to continue moving forward in that direction,” he said.
The releases on Monday concerned three Spanish-Venezuelan dual nationals, with one deciding to stay in the South American country and another set to return to Spain, Jose Manuel Albares told Catalunya Radio.
“This is a second step that we consider very positive, and in this new phase we encourage the Venezuelan government to continue moving forward in that direction,” he said.
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