Drones, radar planes, missiles - NATO is showering European arms manufacturers with an avalanche of contracts, writes the French newspaper "Eco", BTA reported.
This is a way to show that Europe is truly taking its destiny into its own hands.
NATO will become a more modern, better armed, renewed and more compatible team alliance. This is the promise made by the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance, Mark Rutte, in Ankara, Turkey. Before the arrival of the heads of state, the Secretary General announced investments worth tens of billions in new military capabilities. A strategy aimed at winning the favor of President Trump and proving to him that Europe is doing much more for its defense.
By listing the contracts and cooperation of many countries to overcome capacity gaps, Mark Rutte also shows that the European defense industry can compete with the American one. "Europeans can no longer stand the contradictory demands of the United States, which invite them to invest more but buy American weapons that they cannot then deliver", says a diplomat quoted by the publication.
After new calculations, NATO confirms that defense spending in Europe and Canada reached 2.31% of GDP last year and will reach 2.53% this year. Adding in non-military security-related spending, which amounts to 1.4%, Mark Rutte believes that the allies have made significant progress in fulfilling their promises, with total spending now close to 4% of GDP.
At the NATO Defense Industry Forum, Ukrainian President Zelensky made a solemn call for the acceleration of the development of anti-missile capabilities. Although Ukraine has already managed to shoot down around 90% of the "Shahed:" drones used by Russia to strike its territory, as well as a significant part of the cruise missiles, it remains defenseless against Russian ballistic missiles.
"There is only one thing left to do to regain our advantage - to build a solid anti-missile defense. We must be able to produce "Patriot" missiles under an American license, and Europe needs to put its anti-ballistic solutions into action as soon as possible. This protection is needed now, not in 2030," he warned.
President Zelensky is expected to meet with Donald Trump today.
On his arrival in Ankara, Donald Trump, as usual, put the Ukrainian and Russian presidents on a common denominator. "I think they both want to make a deal. It's a shame it took so long, but I think something will come of it," he said.