Former US President Donald Trump intends to force NATO members to increase defence spending to 3% of GDP if he wins the presidential election this autumn.
What is known about Trump's plans to force NATO members to increase defence spending
According to the newspaper's journalists, citing interlocutors, Trump is convinced that NATO member states should increase their own contributions to collective defence amid threats from Russia and China.
Trump is also calling for changes in accounting rules to remove the item of assistance to Ukraine from the list of expenses.
It is emphasised that the former US president became even more convinced of the need for NATO members to increase defence spending after meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda last month.
His thoughts are leaning towards 3%, especially after his conversation with Duda — and this does not include money for Ukraine, the source said in a comment to journalists.
The publication noted that Duda had previously argued that 3% of GDP for defence (a level reached only by Poland, the United States and Greece) is needed to protect against "growing threats", including the beginning of "Russia's direct confrontation with NATO".
NATO underestimated the Russian occupation army in the war against Ukraine
Lithuanian Defence Minister Laurinas Kasciunas said that the key topic of the NATO summit in Washington should be the threat from Russia.
The head of the Ministry of Defense of Lithuania, Laurinas Kaschyunas, noted that the key topic of the NATO summit in Washington should be the threat from Russia.
In his opinion, the Alliance has underestimated the ability of the Russian criminal army to adapt to the conditions of the criminal war against Ukraine waged by the Kremlin.
Despite the sanctions, Moscow has shifted its economy to the military track, given that under an authoritarian regime it does not have to worry much about the social welfare of its society, the Lithuanian Defence Minister emphasises.
Kasciunas believes that a mistake was made when the US and EU countries tried to assess Russia militarily from the perspective of the Western approach.
The lack of responsibility for its society, the cruel management of its own mobilisation potential," which, according to the official, can reach 25 million people, "makes Russia one of the most dangerous adversaries the Alliance will have to confront in the near future," and therefore the allies "have to change a lot in NATO's work, the Lithuanian defence minister warned.
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