Mark Rutte: “NATO needs to do ‘a lot more’ on defence spending”

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Wednesday that he agrees with U.S. President Donald Trump on the need for more burden-sharing between America and its European allies in providing aid to Ukraine. This came during the NATO Defence Ministers meeting in Brussels, where Donald Trump’s new U.S. Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth, also took part. NATO members agreed last year to provide Ukraine with 40 billion euros in security assistance within a year, but ended up sending over 50 billion, with more than half coming from European allies and Canada, according to the alliance.

‘The aid takes a big step in the direction of what President Trump has called for. I agree with him that we must equalize security assistance to Ukraine,’ Rutte told reporters in Brussels on Wednesday, ahead of a gathering of officials dedicated to discussing support for Ukraine