Stoltenberg: Most NATO allies will hit 2% of GDP spending on defense this year

NATO’s top leader said 18 of the 31 alliance members are expected to spend at least 2% of their gross domestic product on defense this year, a sixfold increase since 2014 when only three NATO countries met the target.

Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said NATO members in 2024 will invest a combined total of $380 billion in military preparedness. He announced the latest development ahead of Wednesday’s meeting of NATO defense ministers.

“We are making real progress. European allies are spending more,” he said, calling the latest figures an “unprecedented rise.”

He noted that at last year’s NATO summit in Lithuania, “we agreed … that all allies should invest 2% and that 2% is a minimum.”

The $380 billion spent on defense means NATO will have collectively met the 2% threshold for the first time since the 2014 summit, Mr. Stoltenberg said.

U.S. complaints about NATO members’ frugal spending on defense aren’t new, but former President Donald Trump has focused on the issue with more intensity than other political figures.

Mr. Stoltenberg said he was disappointed by Ukraine’s failure to achieve more progress during its recent offensive against Russia. While the front lines have been relatively stationary, Kyiv’s troops have continued to strike into the rear of Russia’s invading forces, knocking out command and control facilities and tactical aircraft, he said.

Ukrainian officials on Wednesday said their forces sank a Russian warship, the Caesar Kunikov, in a drone attack off the coast of Crimea. They have inflicted heavy losses on Russia’s fleet, pushing Moscow’s warships away from the western part of the Black Sea. Few people thought that was possible only a few months ago, Mr. Stoltenberg said.

“They’ve been able to … open a corridor to export grain and other commodities to the world market,” Mr. Stoltenber said. “It is a great achievement and a great victory for the Ukrainians.”