NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and U.S. Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith said on June 7 that NATO funding will be a major topic at the military alliance's summit next month in Vilnius along with enlargement and security guarantees.
Smith and Stoltenberg, who took part virtually in a conference sponsored by the Center for New American Security, said members will discuss the 2 percent of GDP defense spending threshold and the need to recognize that it is a minimum for member states.
Smith vowed to continue U.S. pressure to ensure members are committing at least 2 percent of their GDP toward defense spending as agreed in the Defense Investment Pledge (DIP) created in 2014, which calls for countries to meet the 2 percent threshold by 2024.
Additionally, Smith said 2 percent “is a floor, not a ceiling,” and that future NATO plans may require further increases.
The United States is “planning roll out DIP 2.0” at the summit, Smith said, with continued pressure on NATO allies to meet and surpass the 2 percent threshold within the next few years.
The leaders of the 31 NATO countries, who are scheduled to gather July 11-12 in the Lithuanian capital, are expected also to hold critical conversations about the future of NATO, membership, and enlargement.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has pressed NATO to allow Ukraine to join, is expected to attend the summit. He said earlier this week that Ukraine is "ready to join" and the alliance needs to make a decision about Ukrainian membership at the summit.
On NATO enlargement, Smith and Stoltenberg made it clear that there is a wide range of potential models for continued NATO contributions to Ukraine, but that the solution will likely be a compromise between the varied opinions among the allies.
“We are looking at an array of options to signal that Ukraine is advancing in its relationship with NATO,” Smith said.
Stoltenberg agreed that until Ukraine joins the alliance some discussion of security arrangements would be necessary, though he did not provide specifics on what the arrangements would be.
The NATO chief clarified that it is up to the allies and Ukraine to make the ultimate decision on when Ukraine should be allowed to join. However, he reaffirmed the NATO’s ultimate commitment to make Ukraine a member after the war.
“When this war ends, we have the framework in place to…prevent further attacks on Ukraine,” he said.
An additional area of focus at the summit will be the resource commitment for NATO allies.
The new DIP and new U.S. regional defense and deterrence plans expected to be on the summit's agenda would result in “a whole new world” for NATO allies’ clarity and level of responsibility, he said.
Both officials also emphasized the NATO commitment to Ukraine’s victory.
Asked about an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive, Stoltenberg said a Ukrainian victory as an independent, sovereign nation is a top priority of NATO, but he would not say more about Ukraine’s plans for the much-discussed counteroffensive beyond saying that the Ukrainians “have the capability to liberate Russian held lands.”