37% of NATO not paying 2% of GDP on defense
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US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith emphasizes NATO's progress in achieving burden-sharing goals, reaffirming the alliance's position in facing China and Russia across the Indo-Pacific and Europe.
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A man walks in the lobby of the NATO headquarters, Wednesday, November 16, 2022 in Brussels. (AP)
"Right now we have 20 allies that are meeting the 2% pledge – 20 allies," said the US ambassador to the NATO alliance, Julianne Smith, adding "That is a significant increase over a decade. Of course, we want it to be all 32 and we’re going to keep pushing until we get there."
Speaking during the 'NATO at 75: Charting a New Course?' conference at Georgetown University's Center for Security Studies in Washington, DC, Smith underscored that 12 out of the 32 NATO countries are yet to pledge 2% of their GDP on defense for the alliance to make the “burden-sharing” benchmark within a decade.
In that regard, Smith asserted that NATO has effectively shared the burden of supporting Ukraine. She highlighted that while the US has supplied approximately $75 billion in military aid to Kiev, European members of the alliance have contributed around $110 billion.
Furthermore, Smith argued that the past two years have brought about significant changes, calling them "transformative", with NATO shifting its focus from expeditionary conflicts to allegedly countering Russian activities in Europe.
Additionally, she emphasized the bloc's updated security strategy, which now perceives China as a potential threat and seeks to collaborate with "partners in the Indo-Pacific" region to address this challenge.
Ukraine may have to compromise eventually with Russia: NATO
In an interview with the BBC on Sunday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed that Ukraine will ultimately have to compromise in some way with Russia to end the war.
He explained that, however, the West must support Ukraine in the long term "even if we believe and hope that the war will end in the near future" and invest in its defense capabilities in case of future hostilities.
He also claimed that Ukraine would set its own conditions to seek peace with Russia.
"At the end of the day, it has to be Ukraine that decides what kind of compromises they’re willing to do," he said, noting that it is the responsibility of the West to help it reach a negotiating position for an "acceptable result."
Nonetheless, he continued to say that "real peace" can only be achieved with victory in Ukraine.
Read more: Blinken warns NATO allies of 'concerning' China-Russia cooperation: FT
