NATO allies are rallying behind a dramatic increase in defense spending — boosting targets from 2% to 5% of GDP — a shift former U.S. ambassador to NATO and special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker attributes to Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine and renewed U.S. pressure under President Donald Trump.
Volker told Newsmax on Tuesday that NATO's new consensus on raising defense spending targets to 5% of GDP marks a major shift driven by the war in Ukraine and mounting concern over Russia's ambitions.
Appearing on "The Record With Greta Van Susteren," Volker pointed to two key reasons for the historic shift: Russia's war of aggression in Europe and President Donald Trump's insistence that European allies increase their defense contributions.
"Yes," Volker said when asked if the mood has changed since the contentious 2018 NATO summit during Trump's first term. "The most important thing that has changed is [that] Putin has launched an all-out war in Europe, the biggest since World War II."
According to Volker, the full-scale invasion of Ukraine has caused massive losses. "Over a million casualties on the Russian side, hundreds of thousands on the Ukrainian side," he said, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin has committed war crimes and made clear his goal of reconstituting the Russian Empire. This objective includes the territory of some European Union NATO member states.
"So they have now woken up to the reality of this threat," Volker said of NATO members. "And they have also woken up to the fact that Donald Trump is serious when he says Europe has to pay its fair share. The U.S. is not going to do more than its share for Europe's own security."
Volker noted the contrast between current European commitments and their positions during the 2018 summit in Brussels, when Trump's calls for increased spending were met with resistance.
"From that 2018 summit, where the vast majority of NATO countries had not met 2%, now you have all of them agreeing to a new target of 5%, and just about everybody already over two," Volker said.
The shift comes as Trump arrived in the Netherlands on Tuesday for a NATO summit, which is expected to focus heavily on defense, deterrence, and the future of Ukraine. It is his first in-person meeting with European U.S. allies since returning to the White House in January.
The summit follows Trump's recent decision to authorize strikes on Iranian nuclear sites and a surprise announcement of a ceasefire in the Israel-Iran conflict.
With Russia's war in Ukraine grinding into its fourth year and experts warning that the conflict could spread beyond Ukraine's borders, defense planning has become an urgent priority across the alliance.
Volker's remarks signal a turning point in how Europe views its security obligations in the face of an aggressive Russia and a U.S. administration demanding a more balanced burden-sharing arrangement across the alliance.
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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