NATO chief proposes 0.25% GDP pledge to fund Ukraine aid

Thursday 14 - 10:16

By: Dakir Madiha

NATO chief proposes 0.25% GDP pledge to fund Ukraine aid

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has proposed that all 32 member states commit 0.25 percent of their gross domestic product annually to support Ukraine. The plan, if adopted, would significantly increase and stabilize long-term assistance levels at a time when Western support remains uneven across allies.

The proposal was presented during a closed-door meeting with NATO ambassadors in late April. It comes ahead of the alliance’s summer summit scheduled for July in Ankara. According to projections cited in discussions around the plan, the measure could nearly triple current collective assistance to Ukraine, bringing total annual support to roughly 143 billion dollars. The initiative aims to reduce disparities between high-contributing northern and eastern European countries and lower-spending southern members.

NATO members have already pledged substantial support for Ukraine in 2026, including around 60 billion dollars in military and security assistance, alongside a European Union loan package estimated at 90 billion euros. However, contributions vary widely. Countries such as Poland, the Baltic states, the Netherlands and the Nordic members continue to contribute a higher share of GDP, while several southern European allies remain below that level.

The 0.25 percent proposal aligns with earlier calls from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who urged allies to dedicate a fixed share of national output to strengthening Ukraine’s defense industry and domestic weapons production. The initiative is designed to provide predictable financing and improve coordination between donors and Ukraine’s military-industrial base.

The plan faces political resistance from key NATO members, including France and the United Kingdom. Any new alliance-wide spending commitment would require unanimous approval, making adoption uncertain. The issue is expected to be further debated at upcoming NATO foreign ministers’ meetings in Sweden in May, which will set the agenda for the Ankara summit and broader discussions on defense spending commitments already targeting 5 percent of GDP by 2035.