British Foreign Minister David Cameron plans to call on Western democracies to be "tougher and more persistent" in protecting their interests and values.
Cameron appealed to the EU
In his first major speech since returning to government, the former British prime minister will call on NATO allies on May 9 to fulfil a pledge to spend 2% of economic output on defence and then increase that spending to 2.5%.
He also intends to warn that "too little and belated actions only encourage the aggressor."
I see too many examples in this job of this lesson not having been learnt. Take the Red Sea, where ship after ship has been attacked. While many countries have criticised the Houthi attacks, it is only the US and Britain that have been willing and able to step up and strike back at them.Or defence spend in Europe, where still some seem unwilling to invest, even as war rages on our continent.
David Cameron
British Foreign Secretary
As concerns grow and the risk that Russia's war with Ukraine will draw the West into the West, Cameron's remarks are a rebuke to NATO countries, which are still not meeting defense spending pledges a decade after they were made.
While Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has prompted NATO to step up efforts to increase defence spending, countries such as Canada, Spain, and Italy are struggling to meet the 2% target. Germany, Europe's largest economy, only recently achieved this goal for the first time.
For its part, the British PM Rishi Sunak has pledged to increase spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2030.
We are in a battle of wills. We all must prove our adversaries wrong — Britain, and our allies and partners around the world. This cannot continue. We have to be tougher and more persistent, — says Cameron.
What is known about Russia's threats to NATO countries
The other day, the head of Poland's military counterintelligence service, Jarosław Stróżyk, noted that Putin is ready to conduct a small operation against one of the NATO countries.
The President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, previously stated that the Russian Federation may attack the countries of the Alliance as early as 2026.
Recently, Cameron said that Great Britain allowed the Ukrainian military to strike targets on the territory of the Russian Federation with its weapons. The Kremlin reacted hysterically to such words.
At the same time, Cameron did not support the idea of French President Emmanuel Macron to send Western troops to Ukraine.
