NATO allies to boost defence spending to five per cent of GDP to counter Russia as Zelensky meets King Charles
King Charles welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for lunch as NATO announced an unprecedented “quantum leap” in defence spending to defend against Russia.
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Ukrainian President Volodymy Zelensky is in the United Kingdom – one of Kyiv’s staunchest allies – on a surprise visit, lunching with King Charles before discussing defence issues and sanctions on Russia with Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Mr Zelensky met with Britain’s King Charles III at Windsor Castle before going on to 10 Downing Street to meet with Sir Keir.
The visit comes ahead of a NATO summit later this week in The Hague.
Mr Zelensky is set to attend on the sidelines but his involvement is being kept to a minimum to avoid a confrontation with US President Donald Trump.
Since returning to office, Mr Trump has up-ended the West’s approach towards Russia’s war on Ukraine by undercutting Kyiv and opening the door to closer ties with Moscow.
According to a statement released late on Monday by Starmer’s office, the two countries will share “battlefield technology”, with “data sets from Ukraine’s front line set to be plugged into UK production lines, allowing British defence firms to rapidly design and build, at scale, cutting edge military equipment available nowhere else in the world.”
“Initial agreements between defence firms in both countries are expected to be rolled out in the coming weeks, with the aim of delivering Ukraine large numbers of battle-proven drones to continue to stave off Russia’s barbaric invasion over the coming months and years”, the statement said.
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‘QUANTUM LEAP’
NATO allies are poised to take a “quantum leap” by hiking defence spending to counter the threat of Russia, Secretary General Mark Rutte said on the eve of a two-day summit.
The 32 members of the alliance will pledge to boost defence expenditure to five per cent of gross domestic product, a key demand of President Trump, who has long grumbled that the US pays too much for NATO.
NATO’s members have thrashed out a compromise deal to dedicate at least 3.5 per cent of GDP to core military needs by 2035, and 1.5 per cent to broader security-related items like cybersecurity and infrastructure.
“The defence investment plan that allies will agree in The Hague introduces a new baseline, five per cent of GDP to be invested in defence,” Mr Rutte told reporters at a pre-summit news conference.
“This is a quantum leap that is ambitious, historic and fundamental to securing our future.” The focus at the summit in The Hague will be on keeping Mr Trump happy after his return to power sparked fears he could blow a hole in the seven-decade-old alliance.
In the run-up to the meeting, Spain had sparked fears of undermining a carefully choreographed unity by refusing to commit to the headline figure of five per cent.
But Mr Rutte stressed that Spain had not been granted an “opt-out” from the pledge. “NATO does not have as an alliance opt-outs, side deals, et cetera, because we all have to chip in,” Rutte said.
The NATO chief said that the increase in spending would see the alliance boost its air defences five-fold and add thousands more tanks and armoured vehicles to its arsenals.
“Our focus is ensuring that we have all we need to deter and defend against any threat,” he said.
“Of course, the most significant and direct threat facing this alliance remains the Russian Federation.”
Mr Rutte insisted that the summit would also send a strong signal of support to Ukraine – despite Trump up-ending the West’s stance towards Russia’s war on Kyiv.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky will attend a state dinner with the Dutch king but he has largely been sidelined from the summit’s main event.
Mr Rutte said that Europe was stepping up already to fill the gap left by Washington pulling back from supporting Ukraine.
He said that Europe and Canada had already pledged A$62 billion to help arm Kyiv so far this year.
LITTLE GIRL AMONG 10 KILLED IN RUSSIAN STRIKES
Russia fired dozens of drones and missiles at Ukraine on Monday, ripping open a housing bloc in Kyiv, killing 10 civilians and burying others beneath the rubble.
A flurry of diplomatic efforts to end the three-year-long war have stalled, with the last direct meeting between Kyiv and Moscow coming almost three weeks ago and no follow-up talks scheduled.
Prosecutors in Kyiv said nine people were killed in the capital’s Shevchenkivsky district, including an 11-year-old girl.
Another person was killed in Bila Tserkva just outside the capital, officials said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia had launched 352 unmanned aerial vehicles – including Iranian-designed drones – and 16 missiles at Ukraine, adding that some of the munitions were provided by North Korea.
“Everyone in countries neighbouring Russia, Iran and North Korea should be thinking carefully about whether they could protect lives if this coalition of murderers persists and continues spreading their terror,” he added.
Mr Zelensky said a school was hit.
“Sadly, some people may still be trapped under the rubble,” he added. In Moscow, the defence ministry said its air defence systems had downed 23 Ukrainian drones over western regions of Russia.
– with AFP
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Originally published as NATO allies to boost defence spending to five per cent of GDP to counter Russia as Zelensky meets King Charles
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