00:00NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has urged all 32 member nations to devote more funds,
00:06equipment and political energy to the world's largest military alliance.
00:11The move comes as European countries ramp up defense spending to meet the agreed-upon
00:152% threshold ahead of the upcoming NATO summit in The Hague in June.
00:20It also follows threats by U.S. President Donald Trump of walking away from NATO if Europe does
00:25not increase defense spending to at least 5% of GDP.
00:30It has to be considerably higher than this famous 2% which we wanted to achieve by 2024.
00:36We have seen the last couple of days countries like Belgium and Spain and Italy saying we will
00:41reach the 2% in time for the summit. So that's not 2024 but close. But clearly with 2% we cannot
00:47defend NATO territory. It has to be considerably higher. And I've said before it has to be
00:52considerably north of 3%.
00:54Rutte insists the increase in spending is to ensure NATO's safety and not just match the U.S.
01:00He added that the alliance must be fully competent and ready to weather any storm,
01:05particularly against one common threat.
01:07The comments came during a visit to Washington to meet with high-ranking U.S. defense officials,
01:23including Defense Secretary Pete Hexeth. The NATO boss was also questioned by reporters on the ongoing
01:30peace talks to end the war in Ukraine, but declined to give his opinion as to not hinder the process.
01:35of course!
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01:39of.
01:40of.
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01:42is.
01:42it
01:49we've.
01:49Do you.
01:53do.
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