NATO chief says alliance needs to increase defence expenditure to counter Russia: Report

In his recent statement, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that member states need to increase their defence expenditure as the alliance continues to deal with Russia's military build-up amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. Speaking to Sky News, he stated that the intergovernmental military alliance is assisting Ukraine in upholding its right to self-defence and preventing the conflict from spreading beyond the war-torn nation. According to the NATO chief, member states have been supplying weapons, ammunition, and various types of military equipment to Ukraine, including anti-tank and anti-air systems, howitzers, and drones.

"We live in a more dangerous world and the alliance continues to support Ukraine against the brutal aggression of Russia. We continue to see Russia's threatening rhetoric against NATO allies, so we need to invest more," Stoltenberg told Sky News. He emphasised that although NATO and its allies were not involved in the ongoing war, their military presence has expanded, particularly on the eastern flank. According to Stoltenberg, this was done to give Moscow a "loud and clear message" that the military alliance will retaliate if any NATO ally is attacked. 

NATO members require to spend at least 2% of GDP on defence

"The UK is playing an important part in those efforts. The brutal reality is that faced with Russia's military build-up, the will to use force against neighbours, so there is a need to invest more in defence," the NATO chief remarked. According to Stoltenberg, the United Kingdom, along with some of its allies, is spending more than the recommended 2% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for defence spending for NATO members. He stressed that the alliance really need to spend more on defence even if it's more "tempting" to spend on healthcare, education, and infrastructure. 

NATO must invest in new and more advanced capabilities: Stoltenberg

Further, Stoltenberg underscored that NATO must invest in new and more advanced capabilities to ensure that it can continue to defend all of its members. "2% of the GDP on defence expenditure is a minimum. So, of course, we welcome the UK and others, which are aiming at a higher level of spending than 2%," he stated, as per Sky News. Notably, NATO is a collective security arrangement in which NATO's independent member states commit to defending each other in the event of an external attack. 

Image: AP