NATO summit: Allies agree to spend 5% of GDP on defense

Unity between Europe and the United States will lead to Ukraine triumphing in its war with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday.

"We need unity between Europe and the United States and we will prevail," Zelenskyy told the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on Wednesday.

The Ukrainian leader added that "we need a strong connection with him [Donald Trump]," hours after he met the US president on the sidelines of the NATO summit.

During the meeting, the two heads of state discussed "how to achieve a ceasefire and a real peace," Zelenskyy said in a post on X, where he thanked both Trump and the US.

Trump said the 50-minute meeting behind closed doors, "Couldn't have been nicer." 

"I had a good meeting with Zelenskyy," Trump said. "He's fighting a brave battle. It's a tough battle."

A public spat between Trump and Zelenskyy at the Oval Office in February has since overshadowed their relationship.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has gone into further detail about the conversation he had with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the NATO summit in The Hague.

Zelenskyy joined the line of Western leaders to congratulate Trump on the US strikes in Tehran, saying they also weakened Iran's "drone production capabilities." Iranian-made drones have been used to target Ukrainian military positions as well as its cities.

He also said in a post on X that the two discussed "the purchase of American air defense systems to shield our cities, our people, churches, and infrastructure."

"Ukraine is ready to buy this equipment and support American weapons manufacturers. Europe can help."

According to Zelenskyy, "the potential for co-production of drones" was also discussed. This would mark a major shift from Trump's earlier stance which led him to suspend US military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine shortly after entering office.

Zelenskyy also said he "presented the President with the facts about what is really happening on the ground."

It was not immediately clear how Trump interpreted the pair's conversation.

US President Donald Trump has said he is not satisfied with Spain, which has said it will not meet the 5% of GDP defense spending by 2035.

"I think it's terrible what Spain has done," he said.

Spain's economy is doing very well, Trump said, "so I don't know what the problem is."

Trump said he would deal directly with Spain and would make the country pay twice as much on trade.

"They are great people," he said, but contended that Spain was the only country that had refused to pay. "So they want a little bit of a free ride."

Slovakia has also said it will not meet the target, arguing that raising living standards and cutting its borrowing are also important.

Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda told DW there is a "strong understanding" within NATO to keep focus on Ukraine.

His statement comes despite there being only a brief mention of Ukraine in the alliance's brief summit communique.

"We are ready to provide the necessary support to Ukraine, not only meaning direct support, military, financial but also meaning additional sanctions we intend to impose on Russia in the coming weeks," he said.

Asked whether he was disappointed that there wasn't a stronger condemnation of Russia in the document, Nauseda said, "We have to find a compromise, which is pretty difficult to find, but we did it, and this compromise is good enough for Lithuania."

He also said Russia would not be happy with the outcome of the summit.

"I think it's bad news for them, the meeting, the declaration, and the general spirit at the table is bad news for them."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked US President Donald Trump after the two leaders spoke on the sideline of the NATO summit in The Hague.

"I had a long and substantive meeting with President Trump," Zelenskyy wrote on X after the meeting.

"We covered all the truly important issues. I thank Mr. President, I thank the United States," he said.

"We discussed how to achieve a ceasefire and a real peace. We spoke about how to protect our people. We appreciate the attention and the readiness to help bring peace closer."

The two leaders famously met in the White House in February, shortly after Trump was inaugurated, in which the US president along with Vice President JD Vance berated Zelenskyy, sparking international criticism.

US President Donald Trump has praised NATO's agreement to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP as a "monumental" victory for the United States. Speaking after the 32-nation summit, he said the move corrects what he sees as an imbalance in burden-sharing.

"It's a monumental win for the United States, because we were carrying much more than our fair share," the president told reporters.

On broader foreign policy, Trump said both Israel and Iran are "tired" and "satisfied to go home and get out." However, he warned the conflict between the two could resume — "perhaps soon."

Earlier, during a meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof on the summit's sidelines, Trump was asked to clarify his commitment to NATO's Article 5, the alliance's core mutual defense clause.

"I stand with it. That's why I'm here. If I didn't stand with it, I wouldn't be here," he said.

The comments followed remarks made a day earlier in which Trump appeared to question the US commitment to Article 5, saying there were "numerous" definitions of it.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he spoke to US President Donald Trump about making way for sanctions against Russia, on the sidelines of the NATO summit in The Hague.

"I once again put forward our urgent wish regarding the situation in Ukraine, but now also with further sanctions from the US side against Russia," Merz said.

"There will be no military solution to this conflict. We need to increase the economic pressure on Moscow."

The EU is set to introduce an 18th package of sanctions on Thursday, but Merz said this would not be enough without stronger support from the US, since only they can bring sanctions against China and India for their purchase of Russian fossil fuels.

"I have the impression that he is intensely thinking about what he can do," Merz added.

French President Emmanuel Macron has said it is an "aberration" to demand more European defense spending while escalating a trade dispute within NATO, urging a return to trade peace among allies.

Speaking after a NATO summit in The Hague, Macron stressed that Russia remains the alliance's main threat. He pointed to a joint statement from the 32 NATO members committing to higher defense spending by 2035 as proof that Europe is strengthening its role within the alliance.

"We can't say we are going to spend more, and then at the heart of NATO, launch a trade war," Macron said.

"It's an aberration, and that's why it's very important that we can return to what should be the rule within all the allies, that is to say, a true trade peace and therefore lowering all tariff barriers that exist or that have been reinforced."

He said he had raised the issue repeatedly with US President Donald Trump and added that "it was time for it to end."

Asked whether his flattery of the US president was "demeaning," NATO chief Rutte disagreed, calling Donald Trump "a good friend."

"Would you ever think that this would be the result of this summit if he [Trump] had not been reelected president?" Rutte responded, pointing to NATO members agreeing to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP after having previously dragged their feet on just reaching the 2% spending goal.

"And when it comes to Iran, the fact that he took this decisive action, very targeted, to make sure that Iran would not be able to get its hands on a nuclear capability ... I think he deserves all the praise."

Rutte was referring to the US bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities over the past weekend. While Trump has claimed success, US intelligence has suggested all it did was delay Iran by a few months.

NATO chief Rutte said it was an "alliance that stands firmly by our neighbor and partner Ukraine."

He pointed out that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was attending the NATO summit with his team.

"Our resounding message to [Zelenskyy] and the Ukrainian people is that Ukraine has our continued support, including with over €35 billion planned this year, with more to follow," Rutte said.

He added that the alliance "will continue to support Ukraine on its irreversible path to NATO membership."

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said that Europe and Canada would need to contribute more to the military alliance.

"They agreed to boost our defense industries which will not only increase our security but will also create jobs," Rutte said, adding "we have confirmed our unwavering support for Ukraine."

He said it meant that the alliance could defend itself from every kind of threat, including from Russia.

The 5% of GDP spending on defense that was agreed on, is broken down into 3.5%, which is "to fund our militaries and the equipment they need, from our air defenses to ammunition, drones, tanks, troops, and more," and 1.5% of GDP for investments into defense and security.

"President Trump has been clear: America is committed to NATO," Rutte said amid concerns over the US president's statements on Tuesday.

"He affirmed that again today in no uncertain terms. At the same time, he made clear that America expects European allies and Canada to contribute more. And that is exactly what we see them doing."

They will "do more of the heavy lifting, equalizing their spending and taking greater responsibility for our shared security," Rutte said.

The NATO chief said that after agreeing on increasing defense spending, the next step is to boost defense industries among the allies to meet the new challenges.

NATO allies have declared Russia a "long-term threat" to Euro-Atlantic security and pledged continued support for Ukraine in a joint summit statement released Wednesday.

In a declaration adopted in The Hague, the alliance's 32 member states said they were "united in the face of profound security threats and challenges, in particular the long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security."

"Allies reaffirm their enduring sovereign commitments to provide support to Ukraine, whose security contributes to ours," the statement said.

World leaders meeting at a NATO summit in the Netherlands have voted to endorse a higher defense spending goal of 5% of GDP.

"Allies commit to invest five percent of GDP annually on core defence requirements as well as defence- and security-related spending by 2035," the alliance's member states said in a joint statement.

They also stressed their "ironclad commitment" to NATO's collective security guarantee "that an attack on one is an attack on all."

The approval comes in response to a demand by US President Donald Trump, but also reflects European fears of a growing threat to security from Russia.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told reporters ahead of the vote: "There is absolute conviction with my colleagues at the table that, given this threat from the Russians, given the international security situation, there is no alternative." 

However, Spain announced prior to the vote that it wouldn't be able to reach the target by the new 2035 deadline, Belgium also signaled that it wouldn't get there before the deadline, and Slovakia said it reserves the right to decide its own defense spending.

Germany is to buy new cruise missiles from Norway to arm the 35 stealth F-35 jets it has ordered from the US, the German Defense Ministry said.

The agreement to buy the missiles for  €677 million ($786 million) was signed on the sidelines of the NATO summit in The Hague.

"This arrangement implements what we have set as our goal in Europe and in NATO: joint procurements to reduce time, bureaucracy and cost," German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said after the signing.

"Thanks to this joint initiative, we will receive the first cruise missiles before the end of 2027. This is not just fast procurement — to be honest, it is almost supersonic speed," he added.

The missiles concerned are known as Joint Strike Missiles (JSM). They can be used against both land and sea targets and are capable of flying under enemy radar and changing course in mid-flight, the ministry said.

The purchase is to be financed both from a special fund to refurbish the Bundeswehr and the normal defense budget.

US President Donald Trump has appeared to reinforce the US' commitment to NATO's mutual defense clause after casting doubt on it.

When asked about the relevant Article 5 of NATO's charter, he told reporters, "We're with them all the way."

Trump had earlier said there were "numerous definitions" of the clause.

The US president made the remarks ahead of his appearance at a summit of the military alliance in The Hague, Netherlands.