Allied Defence Ministers will gather in Brussels on Thursday 5 June 2025 to finalise preparations for the Summit in The Hague.
"At this Ministerial, we are going to take a huge leap forward" Mr Rutte stated, "We will strengthen our deterrence and defence by agreeing ambitious new capability targets." He went on to identify air and missile defence, long-range weapons, logistics, and large land manoeuvre formations as among the Alliance's top priorities.
"We need more resources, forces and capabilities so that we are prepared to face any threat, and to implement our collective defence plans in full" the Secretary General emphasised, adding that, in order to deliver on our new targets, "we will need significantly higher defence spending. That underpins everything."
The Meeting of NATO Defence Ministers will be preceded by a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG) - the international coalition of Allies and partners chaired by the UK and Germany, providing practical support to Ukraine as it resists Russian aggression.
