NATO is considering allowing member nations to count their contributions to Ukraine’s defenses when accounting for total defense spending.
The policy proposal, outlined in a draft of a NATO summit declaration, seemed aimed at helping member nations meet the alliance’s new spending goal, which requires allies to spend at least 5% of their gross domestic product on defense.
Bloomberg News was the first to report on the draft declaration.
The declaration, which will be unveiled at the June 24 NATO summit in The Hague, also proposes the elimination of defense trade barriers between member nations, which would speed up the delivery of weapons and other defensive technology.
The wording of the declaration could change significantly between now and the summit and will likely include more details on policy changes.
The summit is expected to almost entirely focus on increasing defense spending. Previously, NATO members were required to spend only 2% of their GDP on defense, and many nations failed to meet even that goal.
However, since returning to the White House in January, President Trump has ramped up his criticisms of NATO and has demanded that member nations contribute at least 5% of their GDP to defense spending. He has also implied that the U.S. would not defend nations that do not meet the 5% threshold, breaking with NATO doctrine.
While meeting the benchmark is challenging for many allies, prominent NATO leaders have publicly promised to meet the demand. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who met with Mr. Trump earlier this month, has said he wants to create Europe’s largest conventional army and has assisted other Eastern European nations in building up their defenses against Russia.
NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte has proposed splitting up defense contributions, with member nations committing to allocating 3.5% of GDP to explicit defense spending and 1.5% to related projects like cybersecurity, infrastructure and civil preparedness.
