NATO Member Says 50 Billion Euros in Aid to Ukraine ‘Far From’ Satisfying, Urges Allies to Boost Spending
Estonia has requested NATO allies to increase defense spending in order to support Ukraine’s recovery, since the conflict in Ukraine just passed its one-year mark.
Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas reinsalu: “Members haven’t done enough.” Fox News Digital In an exclusive interview “This is my complete assessment.”
“The Western Camp has supported weapons aid, giving around 50 billion Euros [about $53 billion] He said that the figure was approximately and that this is far from satisfying.” “If we want to invest for Ukrainian victory, not just to invest to Ukraine but to ensure that they survive and not lose,” He stated.
Baltic state joined NATO as a member in 2004. Recently, The number of people who signed up for the program has increased The total amount of military aid for Ukraine is only 370 million euro (roughly $392 millions), which is slightly less than 1% Estonia’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Reinsalu asked member states to support Estonia’s goal during the interview. Reinsalu suggested that allies should contribute more to Ukraine and increase defense spending for the alliance. This would require an increase in spending of 2 to 2.5 percent.
Reinsalu stated: “we are making–before Vilnius Summit-–the call that all NATO allies should contribute to defense and the 2 percent does not suffice… to increase the minimum defense expenditure from GDP level to 2.5 percent,” Reinsalu said that Estonia was also included “passed” The decision to increase defense spending to 3% GDP starting next year.
Reinsalu’s comments reiterate the position of Estonian Minister for Defense Hanno Privkur in February at a bilateral meeting in Tallinn, where he met with U.S. Secretaryof Defense Lloyd Austin. He stated that all EU and NATO members should be included in the bilateral meeting. “must spend more then 2 percent” They spend a quarter of their GDP on defense. “Ideally, closer to 2.5 percent,” According to a ahref=”https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/3301025/secretary-of-defense-lloyd-j-austin-iii-and-estonian-defense-minister-hanno-pev/”>Transcript The meeting.
Estonia, despite being a small country, has been vocal in its support for Ukraine’s invasion. Austin said at the meeting Estonia provided more military support to Ukraine than any other country.
Fox News reported Estonia had invested up to 2.4 percent of its GDP into NATO in 2020 according data from the World Bank. This number dropped to 2.2 percent in 2021.
Spending commitments
NATO allies agreed that they would not cut spending after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014. They will instead spend 2 percent of their GDP to fund defense budgets by 2024. Next year, the pledge will expire. Some NATO members are now working towards a different goal, despite not being able to provide the 2 percent of their GDP required for defense.
The future will be mapped by NATO leaders at the Heads of State Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, July. The new guideline is still not known as certain member states claim 2.5% of their GDP is too unrealistic.
NATO estimates that the United States has spent 3.47 percent of its GDP for defense. This figure is higher than any other ally.
On the one-year anniversary Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration made an announcement. Additional $2 billion New military aid has brought the total amount of taxpayer money given to Kyiv up to $32billion over the past 12 months. This amount is approximately five times the annual Ukrainian military budget.
This report was provided by The Associated Press.
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