Five leading NATO countries — the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, and Canada — did not support Estonia’s initiative to introduce a mandatory minimum contribution of 0.25% of each country’s gross domestic product for military aid to Ukraine.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Reasons for refusal and reactions from other countries
According to discussions within the Alliance, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte acknowledged that this Estonian proposal would not receive support at the upcoming NATO summit in Ankara. The lack of unity among key allies has become an obstacle to approving the initiative.
At the same time, countries that already allocate more than 0.25% of their GDP to support Ukraine, including the three Baltic states, Poland, the Netherlands, and several Northern European countries, expressed support for this idea. However, without the agreement of influential members such as the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Italy, the approval of the initiative is currently impossible.
Financial participation and allies’ positions
The Telegraph notes that the United Kingdom spends about 0.1% of its GDP on aid to Ukraine, which is a significant amount considering the country’s economic size. Meanwhile, France, Italy, Spain, and Canada, despite their stated support, allocate significantly less funding.
“I would very much like to see more countries that speak so well of Ukraine also back their words with real money,” said Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson to reporters.
The positions of the United States and Germany in this context were not disclosed. It is known that the administration of Donald Trump urged European allies to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP.
On May 21, Mark Rutte emphasized that aid to Ukraine is provided unevenly. He noted that countries like Sweden, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, and Denmark have leadership positions in support, while a significant portion of allies does not allocate enough funds to assist Kyiv.