Nato

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he will not take NATO membership for Ukraine off the table, but “right now the most influential member of NATO seems to be Putin because he seems able to block NATO decisions.” Zelenskyy also called for the creation of an ‘Armed Forces of Europe’.

NATO allies are currently negotiating an upward revision to the defence spending target, despite several countries failing to reach the current 2% of GDP threshold.

The Baltic nation’s announcement comes weeks after US President-elect Donald Trump said NATO allies should spend at least 5% of GDP on defence.

Poland is committed to driving a strong defence agenda and weaning Europe fully off Russian fossil fuels, the country’s Minister for European Affairs Adam Szłapka has told Euronews.

European defence stocks rallied on Wednesday after President-elect Donald Trump reaffirmed his stance on increasing NATO spending and highlighted Greenland’s strategic importance during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday.

US President-elect Donald Trump has called for NATO’s 32 member states to spend 5% of their GDP on defence, up from the existing target of 2%.

The 32 NATO allies will likely decide to increase the defence spending benchmark from the current 2% of GDP during a summit in The Hague in June.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said at an annual security conference on Sunday that Sweden is not at war but there is also no peace, the news agency TT reported.

US President-elect Donald Trump said NATO member states should increase their defence spending to 5% of GDP and criticised Europe’s contributions.