Rutte Tries to Hold NATO’s 5% Pledge Together as Trump Presses Allies on Ukraine

3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Jun 24

White House talks on Wednesday center on how NATO allies are delivering last year’s 5% of GDP defense pledge, expanding arms production and sustaining support for Ukraine ahead of the summit in two weeks.
Trump has kept up pressure after complaining allies did too little during the Iran crisis and failed to back the U.S. in Operation Epic Fury, leaving officials worried he could turn the Ankara meetings confrontational.
Rutte is using his working relationship with Trump to avoid surprises and argue that Europe and Canada are stepping up, even as countries including the U.K., Spain and Czechia face political and fiscal limits on spending more.
Tens of billions already added to allied defense budgets and a NATO channel for buying U.S. weapons for Ukraine are central to Rutte’s case that the alliance is sharing more of the burden while still benefiting Washington.