NATO is set to approve new military purchases as part of a major defense spending hike

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS AP NATO defense ministers are set Thursday to approve purchasing targets for stocking up on weapons and military equipment to better defend Europe the Arctic and the North Atlantic as part of a U S push to ramp up safeguard spending The capability targets lay out goals for each of the nations to purchase priority equipment like air defense systems long-range missiles artillery ammunition drones and strategic enablers such as air-to-air refueling heavy air conveyance and logistics Each nation s plan is classified so details are scarce The present day we decide on the capability targets From there we will assess the gaps we have not only to be able to defend ourselves at present but also three five seven years from now NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte stated Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth right speaks with Norway s Defense Minister Tore Sandvik during a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels Thursday June AP Photo Virginia Mayo All these investments have to be financed he recounted reporters before chairing the meeting at NATO s Brussels headquarters U S President Donald Trump and his NATO counterparts will meet on June - to agree to new defense funding goals Spurred on by their own assurance concerns European allies and Canada have already been ramping up military spending including arms and ammunition purchases since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in At the same time specific allies balk at U S demands to invest of their gross domestic product in defense on core military spending and on the roads bridges airfields and sea ports needed to deploy armies more expeditiously when they have already struggled to grow their budgets to of GDP Still U S Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reported that numerous appear on track to agree The commitment is there on defense spending he reported reporters after stepping out of the meeting When you consider the threats that we face the urgency in the world it s critical We don t need more flags We need more fighting formations We don t need more conferences We need more capabilities Hard power The new targets are assigned by NATO based on a blueprint agreed upon in the military organization s biggest planning shakeup since the Cold War to defend its territory from an attack by Russia or another major adversary Under those plans NATO would aim to have up to troops ready to move to its eastern flank within days although experts suggest the allies would struggle to muster those kinds of numbers The member countries are assigned roles in defending NATO territory across three major zones the high north and Atlantic area a zone north of the Alps and another in southern Europe NATO planners believe that the targets must be met within - years given the speed at which Russia is building its armed forces now and which would accelerate were any peace agreement reached to end its war on Ukraine Related Articles In the modern day in History June Robert F Kennedy assassinated US vetoes UN Prevention Council resolution demanding an immediate Gaza ceasefire Vietnam scraps -child approach as aging threatens economic improvement A huge loss In remote Nagasaki islands a rare version of Christianity heads toward extinction Trump says Putin notified him that Russia will respond to Ukrainian attack on airfields Selected fear Russia might be ready to strike at a NATO country even sooner especially if Western sanctions are eased and Europe has not prepared Are we going to gather here again and say okay we failed a bit and then maybe we start learning Russian Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovil akalien commented Swedish Defense Minister P l Jonson also warned that while Russia is bogged down in Ukraine right now things could hastily change We also know after an armistice or a peace agreement of discipline Russia is going to allocate more forces closer to our vicinity Therefore it s extremely critical that the alliance use these couple of years now when Russia is still limited by its force posture in and around Ukraine Jonson declared If the targets are respected the member countries will need to spend at least of GDP on defense Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans reported his country calculates in the medium term that we should spend at least on defense which in the Netherlands means an additional to billion euro - billion addition to our current budget The Netherlands is likely to buy more tanks infantry fighting vehicles and long-range missile systems including U S -made Patriots that can target aircraft cruise missiles and shorter-range ballistic missiles