THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) 鈥 NATO leaders were gathering in the Netherlands on Tuesday for the start of a historic two-day summit that could unite the world鈥檚 biggest security organization around a new defense spending pledge or widen divisions among the 32 allies.
The allies are likely to endorse a goal of spending 5% of their gross domestic product on their security, to be able to fulfil the alliance鈥檚 plans for defending against outside attack. Still, , and that the target is "unreasonable." President Donald Trump has said the U.S. should not have to.
Slovakia said that it reserves the right to decide how to reach the target by NATO's new 2035 deadline.
鈥淲e are not living in happy land after the Berlin Wall came down. We are living in much more dangerous times and there are enemies, adversaries who might want to attack us,鈥 NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said ahead of the summit in The Hague.
鈥淲e have to make sure that we defend our beautiful way of life and systems and our values,鈥 he said.
Ahead of the two-day meeting, Britain, France and Germany committed to the 5% goal. Host country the Netherlands is also onboard. Nations closer to the borders of Ukraine, Russia and its ally Belarus had previously pledged to do so.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a historic moment. It鈥檚 probably one of the most consequential moments in this alliance鈥檚 history," U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said. "We鈥檙e going to see a renaissance of our defense industries.鈥
罢谤耻尘辫鈥檚 was supposed to center on how the U.S. secured the historic military spending pledge from others in the security alliance 鈥 effectively bending it to its will.
But in the spotlight instead now is 罢谤耻尘辫鈥檚 decision to strike three nuclear enrichment facilities in Iran that the administration says eroded Tehran鈥檚 nuclear ambitions, as well as the that Israel and Iran had
Ukraine has also suffered as a result of that conflict. It has created a need for weapons and ammunition that Kyiv desperately wants, and shifted the world's attention away. Past NATO summits have focused almost entirely on the war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year.
Still, Rutte insists it remains a vital issue for NATO, and that the allies can manage more than one conflict.
鈥淚f we would not be able to deal with ... the Middle East, which is very big and commanding all the headlines, and Ukraine at the same time, we should not be in the business of politics and military at all," he said. "If you can only deal with one issue at a time, that will be that. Then let other people take over.鈥
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in The Hague for a series of meetings, despite his absence from a leaders鈥 meeting aiming to seal the agreement to boost military spending.
It鈥檚 a big change since the summit in , when the military alliance鈥檚 weighty communique included a vow to supply long-term security assistance to Ukraine, and a commitment to back the country 鈥渙n its irreversible path鈥 to NATO membership.
Zelenskyy鈥檚 first official engagement was with Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Dick Schoof at his official residence just across the road from the summit venue.
But in a telling sign of Ukraine鈥檚 status at the summit, neither leader mentioned NATO. Ukraine鈥檚 bid to join the alliance has been put in deep freeze by Trump.
鈥淟et me be very clear, Ukraine is part of the family that we call the Euro-Atlantic family,鈥 Schoof told Zelenskyy, who in turn said he sees his country鈥檚 future in peace 鈥渁nd of course, a part of a big family of EU family.鈥
Schoof used the meeting to announce a new package of Dutch support to Kyiv including 100 radar systems to detect drones and a move to produce drones for Ukraine in the Netherlands, using Kyiv鈥檚 specifications.
In a joint opinion piece on the eve of this year's summit, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said they backed U.S. peace efforts that should preserve Ukraine鈥檚 sovereignty and European security.
鈥淔or as long as the current trajectory lasts, Russia will find in France and Germany an unshakeable determination. What is at stake will determine European stability for the decades to come,鈥 they wrote in the Financial Times newspaper.
鈥淲e will ensure that Ukraine emerges from this war prosperous, robust and secure, and will never live again under the fear of Russian aggression,鈥 the two leaders wrote.
