The US-led bloc’s member states agreed to significantly increase military expenditures

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte delivers opening remarks as he sits beside US President Donald Trump at the NATO Summit in The Hague, Netherlands, on June 25, 2025. ©  Global Look Press / Keystone Press Agency / Sean Kilpatrick

NATO leaders have agreed to a massive spike in defense spending, overcoming internal divisions and relegating Ukraine to a secondary agenda item to finalize a historic pact that will double members’ military budgets. At a short summit in The Hague, the US-led military bloc committed to raising defense expenditures to 5% of member GDP by 2035, a dramatic escalation from the current 2% target. 

US President Donald Trump hailed the agreement as a “monumental win,” having  pressured European members to “pay their share” since the first term. 

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte framed the spending surge as building an alliance that is “stronger, fairer, and more lethal”, a mantra he has championed since June 2025 as NATO’s new strategic doctrine. 

Rutte has been doubling down on flattery, privately texting Trump praise for his “decisive action” by attacking Iran and crediting him for NATO’s historic 5% defense spending target increase. During the summit the NATO chief then likened the US president to a “daddy” using “strong language,” defending  Trump’s recent on-camera f-bomb about Iran and Israel.

In an unusually short five-paragraph statement NATO leaders cited undefined “long-term threats” from Russia while Ukraine was only mentioned in one sentence. Ukrainian Leader Vladimir Zelensky was confined to a pre-summit dinner, excluded from key meetings, and granted a sidelined conversation with Trump, who stated that ceasefire talks were “not on the agenda”.

25 June 2025

18:38 GMT

 

READ MORE: Russia not main threat to EU – bloc member state

This year’s NATO summit was “much better” than last year’s, as it was not entirely focused on Ukraine, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said.

“Back then, the NATO summit was held in Washington, and NATO was headed in the wrong direction entirely,” Orban stated in an interview posted to his X account. “That summit was about Ukraine, not about how to make ourselves stronger.”

There was almost nothing about Kiev in the event’s final document, he added.

“One could even say we won,” Orban said.

 

 

18:25 GMT

The Hague Summit’s short final declaration consists of five points:

1. A commitment to Article 5, which states that an attack one member state constitutes an attack on all

Read more

 Ukraine barely mentioned in NATO summit communique

2. A historic pledge to devote funding in an amount equal to 5% of GDP to military spending by 2035 in order to counter an alleged “long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security,” as well as to counter terrorism

3. An agreement that 3.5% of that 5% will go to core military expenditures, while 1.5% will be used to strengthen critical infrastructure

4. A commitment to deepen transatlantic military industrial cooperation and remove trade barriers between members

5. The Netherlands was thanked for hosting the event, and future meetings are scheduled to take place in Türkiye in 2026 and, later, in Albania

17:10 GMT

The latest NATO summit was notable for its brevity, both in duration and in the length of its final declaration, which contained just five succinct points, notes Fyodor Lukyanov, editor-in-chief of Russia in Global Affairs and RT contributor.

While the summit’s central theme was money, another priority was keeping US President Donald Trump satisfied behind the scenes, according to Lukyanov. 

“Maximum flattery, maximum praise for his leadership, maximum pomp and royal-worthy settings to please him,” Lukyanov adds. 

“Now the key is to keep up this performance, lest he, God forbid, gets upset over something.”

Read the full analysis at @ru_global

17:09 GMT

US President Donald Trump has boarded Air Force One following the conclusion of the NATO summit.

 

 

17:05 GMT

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has only played a “supporting role” at this year’s NATO summit, German tabloid Bild has said.

“There was no invitation to the working sessions, no new billions in aid, and no commitment to a NATO perspective for Ukraine” at the event, the outlet wrote.

The summit’s final declaration also “refrained from any commitment” to Ukrainian membership in the US-led military bloc, at the “insistence” of US President Donald Trump, the outlet wrote.

Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky seen alongside European leaders at the NATO Summit, alongside European leaders, The Hague, Netherlands, June 25, 2025. © Getty Images / Kay Nietfeld/dpa

 

16:37 GMT

Spain is the only NATO state that wants its military spending at 2% of GDP, Donald Trump has said, promising to pressure Madrid into paying “twice that much.”

“I think Spain’s terrible,” he said. “They’re the only country that won’t pay the full up. They want to stay at 2%.”

“We're negotiating with Spain on a trade deal. We're gonna make them pay twice as much. And I'm actually serious about that,” he said.

16:18 GMT

US President Donald Trump has said that he has not yet ended the Ukraine conflict because it is “more difficult than people would have any idea.” Trump admitted he had experienced difficulties working with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and with Vladimir Zelensky.

“It's more difficult than people would have any idea. Vladimir Putin has been more difficult,” he told journalists.

“Frankly, I had some problems with Zelensky. You may have read about them.”

In February, a meeting between Trump and Zelensky at the White House devolved into a public shouting match, after which the US president accused the Ukrainian leader of not being interested in working towards peace.

 

16:06 GMT

Washington will need to produce more Patriot air defense missiles, as they are “very hard to get,” and the US needs them too, President Donald Trump said when asked whether he could sell the weapons to Ukraine.

“We're going to see if we can make some available. You know, they're very hard to get,” he said.

“We need them, too. We’re supplying them to Israel.”

 

 

15:44 GMT

Donald Trump has said that he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the Ukraine conflict and “get it ended.”

“You know, we had little rough times sometimes. He couldn't have been nicer. I think he'd like to see an end to this,” he told reporters.

“I'm going to speak to Vladimir Putin, see if we can get it ended.”

 

15:39 GMT

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte was “very affectionate,” Donald Trump said when asked to comment on the former Dutch prime minister calling him “daddy.”

“He likes me, I think he likes me. If he doesn’t, I’ll let you know. I’ll come back and hit him hard, okay?” the US president said.

“He did it very affectionately. Daddy, you're my daddy.”

 

 

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