Some anonymous sources within NATO said that the US-led military bloc is planning to recalculate how to spend military aid on Ukraine.
This is also part of a plan to call for members to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP in the context of complicated and tense geopolitical developments. This proposal is expected to be discussed at the NATO summit taking place on June 24 and 25 in The Hague (Netherlands).
With the current proposal, NATO calls on each member to spend at least 5% of GDP per year on defense. The figure will be divided into 3.5% of GDP for core defense sectors such as military equipment and soldier salaries and the remaining 1.5% of GDP for broader "defense-related" spending.
Ongoing between NATO officials are focusing on what to include in this 1.5% target, such as cybersecurity, infrastructure spending or recovery goals.
If the 32 allies reach a consensus, new military aid to Ukraine will be included in the "defense-related" expenditure category (1.5% of GDP).
Previously, equipment donated to Ukraine from NATO military arsenal was previously considered part of the regular core defense spending when it was purchased.
However, future orders to replace the donated equipment will still be included in the core 3.5% defense target. This means that if a NATO country buys new weapons to directly send to Ukraine or to replace the weapons it has donated, that amount will be included in its defense spending goals.
Since the conflict with Russia broke out in 2022, NATO has spent billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine, including transfers from the bloc's arsenal and helping Kiev increase its defense production capacity.
The source said that NATO's recalculation of defense spending on Ukraine is reasonable because it has a direct and positive impact on the bloc's security.
According to the alliance's data, last year, NATO countries spent a total of 50 billion euros on all types of military aid, while in 2023, the figure reached about 40 billion euros.
