Many NATO countries are not spending enough to support Ukraine, the alliance's Secretary General, Mark Rutte, was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse. He called for a debate on a possible minimum support from each country, BTA reports.
Support "is not distributed evenly across NATO," he noted. "It focuses on a limited number of countries, including Sweden, which is really going above and beyond in terms of support for Ukraine, as well as other countries such as Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway, not to mention a few others," Rutte added at a joint press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristershon after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers.
"But there are also many who are not spending enough to support Ukraine," the secretary general stressed.
According to Politico, the NATO secretary general has called on allies to allocate 0.25% of GDP to help Kiev. This proposal, which could unlock tens of billions of dollars in additional aid, is facing strong resistance from some large member states.
"Since this proposal will not receive unanimous approval, it will not be adopted," Rutte admitted. "But it has at least started a debate among allies: if we all say that Ukraine needs to make sure that it stays in the fight as strong as possible and leads that fight until peace is achieved, then of course we all need to contribute to that in an equal way, and this debate is already at least very relevant within NATO, which is very positive," he added.
The Scandinavian and Baltic countries, as well as the Netherlands and Poland, devote a larger share of their GDP to military aid to Kiev than many other allies, according to the Kiel Institute.
NATO foreign ministers are meeting today in Helsingborg, in southern Sweden, to discuss support for Ukraine and prepare for the next Alliance summit in Turkey in July.
"In Ankara, we need to show that we are making real progress, that we are keeping our commitments, which means "We need to produce more, strengthen our supply chains and stocks, produce faster and ensure that our armed forces have everything they need to deter and protect," Rutte said.