(Madrid) British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will call on his NATO allies, meeting in Madrid on Wednesday, to increase their military spending in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Downing Street said on Tuesday.
Posted at 5:45 p.m.
NATO countries pledged in 2014, after the annexation of Crimea by Russia, to increase their defense budget to 2% of their GDP by 2024.
Only eight of the 30 member countries had met or exceeded this target by 2021, but since then many countries are rearming due to the war in Ukraine.
“We need allies, all allies, to tap deep into their resources to restore deterrence and provide defense for the decade to come,” Boris Johnson is due to say Wednesday at the organization’s summit in Madrid, according to a report. Downing Street press release.
“The 2% has always been designed as a floor, not a ceiling, and the allies must continue to mobilize in this period of crisis”, he must add.
Due to the war in Ukraine, NATO must adapt to “new and stronger threats”, explains the British government.
Boris Johnson arrives at the NATO summit with the commitment to strengthen the British military presence in Estonia, a Baltic country bordering Russia.
London will also contribute to the transformation announced by NATO of its Response Force, which will increase to more than 300,000 soldiers, against 40,000 currently.
London has provided massive military support to Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion, totaling 1.3 billion pounds (2.03 billion CAD).