NATO chief calls on members to ‘raise the cost’ for Putin and his cronies and pay more than 2% GDP

The NATO chief Mark Rutte has called on member states to pay more than 2% than their GDP which will “raise the cost” for Vladimir Putin.

This will be difficult for Labour as they will not currently commit to 2.5% or even higher until the UK economy allows.

NATO secretary general said it is necessary to “raise the cost” for Putin and all of his authoritarian friends such as Iran, North Korea and China and provide Ukraine with the correct support they need in order to change the trajectory of Russia’s war against Kyiv.

During a joint press briefing with the French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday the NATO chief said, “We must recommit to stay in the course for the long haul.

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“And we must do more than just keep Ukraine in the fight. We need to raise the cost for Putin and his enabling authoritarian friends, by providing Ukraine with the support it needs to change the trajectory of the conflict.

“So, we must stand together – Europe, North America and our global partners – to keep our people safe and prosperous.”

The NATO secretary general added, “the immediate challenge we face, obviously, is support for Ukraine.

He said that NATO needs more robust transatlantic defence cooperation, and the challenge is we live in a “more dangerous world” so we need to go harder and faster.

Rutte added, “The more we spend on defense, the more we reduce the risk of future conflict. And I want to welcome that France will invest more than 2% of GDP in defense this year.”

He insisted that Moscow is working very closely with Iran, North Korea and China who are “not only threatening Europe, it threatens peace and security.