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First US goal at NATO summit to convince allies to boost defense spending - DoS

Other News Materials 29 March 2017 04:27 (UTC +04:00)
The initial goal US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will pursue at this Friday's NATO summit in Brussels is for all member nations to renew their commitment to increase defense spending
First US goal at NATO summit to convince allies to boost defense spending - DoS

The initial goal US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will pursue at this Friday's NATO summit in Brussels is for all member nations to renew their commitment to increase defense spending, a senior Department of State official told reporters in a briefing on Tuesday, Sputnik reported.

On February 20, US Vice President Mike Pence said that the United States was expecting Europe to fulfill their promises on defense just like Washington was doing and that "the patience of the American people will not endure forever."

Only five NATO countries, including the United States, currently meet the 2 percent of GDP defense budget requirement.

"The first goal that Secretary Tillerson is going to push is to get the allies to renew their commitment through increased resources for NATO’s defense spending," the official stated.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump called NATO "obsolete." He also accused European members of the alliance of not sharing US' burden concerning defense spending. He called for boosting the spending in 2017.

The issue of the contributions to the alliance has been raised repeatedly by the new US administration, insisting on all countries honoring their NATO budget responsibilities. The target of spending 2 percent of the GDP mandated by NATO was adopted at the Alliance's September 2014 Summit in Wales, with only five countries, including the United States, meeting the required standard, according to NATO figures.

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