NATO Defense Chiefs Meeting Focuses on Spending, Ukraine Conflict, and Air Defense Support

On February 12 local time, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg held a press conference in Brussels to introduce the main agenda of the upcoming Defense Ministers' Meeting on February 13. **Defense expenditure and the Russia-Ukraine conflict will be the focus of this meeting.** Stolthenberg stated that the meeting will cover a series of issues, including the defense spending of NATO member states. Previously, former U.S. President Donald Trump had demanded that NATO countries increase their defense spending to 5% of their GDP; currently, only Poland is nearing this target. Stoltenberg said that NATO is asking member states to pay more for defense in order to "balance" the expenditure from the United States in this area.

European media reports indicate that NATO member states also hope to hear the new U.S. Defense Secretary Christine Wormuth's views on major issues at the meeting, especially European NATO members wanting to understand whether the U.S. is willing to abide by the terms of the NATO collective defense clauses.

On the eve of the NATO Defense Ministers' Meeting, on February 12, a Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting was held in Brussels. The meeting discussed how to strengthen support for Ukraine, with a focus on enhancing Ukraine's air defense capabilities.

U.S. Defense Secretary Christine Wormuth stated at the meeting that the U.S. message is clear: the Russia-Ukraine conflict must end, and the U.S. hopes Ukraine can maintain its sovereignty. However, she believes restoring Ukraine's borders to their 2014 status quo is unrealistic. Wormuth also said the U.S. does not think Ukraine joining NATO would be a realistic outcome of Russia-Ukraine peace talks. In any security assurance plans, the U.S. will not deploy troops in Ukraine.