NATO members need to increase their air and missile defences by 400% to counter the threat from Russia, the head of the political and military alliance said on Monday, warning that Moscow could be ready to attack it within five years.
Secretary General Mark Rutte said during a visit to London that he expects all 32 NATO members to agree to a significant hike in military spending at a summit in the Netherlands later this month.
Speaking at the Chatham House think tank, Rutte said Russia is outpacing NATO in producing ammunition and the alliance must take a “quantum leap" in collective defence.
"Wishful thinking will not keep us safe," Rutte said.
"We cannot dream away the danger. Hope is not a strategy. So NATO has to become a stronger, fairer and more lethal alliance."
Rutte has proposed a target of 3.5% of economic output for military spending and another 1.5% for "defence-related expenditure," such as roads, bridges, airfields and seaports.
He said he is confident the alliance will agree to the target at its summit in The Hague on 24-25 June.
At the moment, 22 of the 32 members meet or exceed NATO's current 2% target, which was set in 2014.
Rutte said he expects all to reach 2% by the end of this year.
The new target would meet a demand by US President Donald Trump that member states spend 5% of their gross domestic product on defence.
Thousands more armoured vehicles needed
Trump has long questioned the value of NATO and complained that the US provides security to European countries that don’t contribute enough.
Rutte said he agreed that "America has carried too much of the burden for too long."
Rutte said NATO needs thousands more armoured vehicles and millions more artillery shells, as well as a 400% increase in air and missile defence.
"We see in Ukraine how Russia delivers terror from above, so we will strengthen the shield that protects our skies," he said.
"Russia could be ready to use military force against NATO within five years," Rutte added. "We are all on the eastern flank now."
Rutte also held talks on Monday with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and praised the UK's commitment to increase defence spending as "very good stuff".
Starmer has pledged to boost military spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 and to 3% by 2034.
Like other NATO members, the UK has been reassessing its defence spending since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
European NATO countries, led by the UK and France, have scrambled to coordinate their defence positions as Trump transforms US foreign policy, seemingly side-lining Europe as he looks to end the war in Ukraine.
Last week the UK government said it would build new nuclear-powered attack submarines, prepare its army to fight a war in Europe and become "a battle-ready, armour-clad nation."
The plans represent the most sweeping changes to British defences since the collapse of the Soviet Union more than three decades ago.
