The chief of NATO says the military alliance needs to shift to a “wartime mindset.”
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on Thursday that members recognize “the need to invest much more,” making the comments after the U.S. told members the day earlier that Europe must “own responsibility for its own security,” including support for Ukraine.
“We are producing more and faster than at any time in decades, but we can and must do more to ensure the credibility of our returns in defence for years to come,” Rutte said.
“We need to shift to a wartime mindset and we need industry to shift with us. The demand signals are clear and they’ll continue to grow.”
Rutte, who spoke after a meeting of alliance defence ministers, said he believed the officials would return to each of their countries with a “greater sense of urgency” to ramp up spending.
His comments came a day after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth repeated calls from U.S. President Donald Trump that more investment needs to be made by other NATO allies.
“The United States remains committed to the NATO alliance and to the defence partnership with Europe. Full stop,” Hegseth said.
“But the United States will no longer tolerate an imbalanced relationship which encourages dependency. Rather, our relationship will prioritize empowering Europe to own responsibility for its own security.”
A total of 23 of the 32 member countries met the organization’s commitment of spending two per cent of gross domestic product on their national defence budgets last year, but a third still do not.
Canada is among those who continue to fall short.
Ukraine was also a primary focus in the meetings, with Rutte saying the alliance discussed the importance of continued support.
Trump said Wednesday that he had spoken by phone with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and said Ukraine could neither have all of its land back nor join NATO.
The remarks have raised alarm for both Kyiv and the European allies in NATO who said they feared the White House might make a deal without them.
“We, as a sovereign country, simply will not be able to accept any agreements without us,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
He said Putin aimed to make his negotiations bilateral with the United States, and it was important not to allow that.
Asked if Ukraine would be starting any negotiations from a position of weakness, Rutte disagreed.
“Even if talks start, they will not end on day one or day two, so there is, let’s say, a path where we have to make sure that talks are successful,” he said.
“It is important that we get to a peace deal and, at the same time, to make sure that Putin understands that the West is united, that Ukraine is getting all the support it needs to prevail.”
U.K. Defence Secretary John Healey told reporters at NATO headquarters, “There can be no negotiation about Ukraine without Ukraine. And Ukraine’s voice must be at the heart of any talks.”
Responding to reporters’ questions on European involvement, Rutte said allies are consulting “among each other,” including the U.S., and said they’re working to get “to the same page.”
While it’s yet to be seen what could occur during peace talks, Rutte stressed that though the alliance committed to a future NATO membership for Ukraine, it was not a part of peace talk discussions.
“What I have consistently said is we have to make sure that whatever the outcome is, we have to make sure that Vladimir Putin will never, ever try to attack Ukraine,” he said.
“But it has never been a promise to Ukraine that as part of a peace deal, they would be in NATO.”
— With files from Reuters and The Associated Press