On June 24-25, elected officials, defense ministers, and policymakers gathered in The Hague for the 2025 NATO Summit. During the two-day event, representatives from NATO’s 32 member countries discussed the need to increase defense spending. They also reviewed how to improve “NATO’s deterrence and defense posture.” Finally, Alliance members addressed Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
For years, several Alliance members have failed to reach defense spending targets. Defense production lines faced several burdens. There has been a need to modernize defense industries. Some NATO members have even become heavily reliant on the United States for various advanced military technologies and equipment.
To address these issues, Alliance members determined that they need to “increase[e] defense investment and [enforce] fairer burden-sharing.” To achieve this goal, the NATO members agreed to “expand transatlantic defense industrial cooperation [by] harness[ing] emerging technolog[ies].” Alliance members hope this will help “reduce duplication, enable [the] pooling of resources, and produce synergies among all allies.” They believe this would alleviate pressures on “any one member’s industrial base,” which would “boost production capacity and support innovation.” NATO members also stated that continued partnership with the European Union and Ukraine would strengthen the collective defense industrial base.
Beyond these challenges, NATO members agreed to a “new commitment to spend 5 percent of [their respective] gross domestic product[s] on defense by 2035.” The initial 2014 target called for Alliance members to meet a 2 percent threshold of their GDP on defense spending. By 2021, only six NATO members had achieved the 2 percent goal. But as of 2025, 23 out of NATO’s 32 members reached the 2 percent goal. While this is an important increase, several Alliance members are still well below the 2 percent target. Since they have not reached the initial target, it remains unclear how they will meet the new 5 percent goal.
Spain, one of the countries that has not reached the initial 2 percent commitment, publicly refused to agree to the new 5 percent target. Other countries, such as Slovakia, Belgium, France, and Italy, have pondered how they will achieve the 5 percent goal. This suggests many Alliance members will struggle with the new target.
To address these concerns, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte proposed that members “allocate at least 3.5 [percent] of GDP” for defense expenditures. The remaining 1.5 percent would focus on “defense-related items, such as critical infrastructure, cybersecurity, and resilience measures.” Separating the 5 percent target into these two categories would make it easier for Alliance members to reach the new GDP goal. NATO members even agreed that weapons and ammunition sent to Ukraine would count toward the 5 percent target.
Alliance members will now work diligently to achieve these goals. They will have their progress assessed in 2029 to determine how they will reach the 5 percent target by 2035.
Finally, NATO members discussed Russian aggression as well as the Alliance’s assistance to Ukraine. But unlike the NATO Summits in 2022, 2023, and 2024, NATO-Ukraine relations were not high on the agenda in 2025. According to reports made by several media outlets, NATO was initially “supposed to discuss a new Russia strategy” during the summit. Instead, NATO-Ukraine relations and Russian aggression were relegated to a working dinner.
The messaging on Ukraine during the 2025 NATO Summit was also inconsistent. For example, the official NATO declaration from The Hague read that the Alliance would continue to contribute toward “Ukraine’s defense and its defense industry.” In addition, the Alliance stated that it will continue to support Ukraine. Finally, Secretary-General Rutte noted that Ukraine’s path toward NATO membership remains irreversible.
But the declaration from the 2025 NATO Summit also failed to mention Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. It also did not outline strategies on how Ukraine can join the Alliance. This is a noticeable change from the previous NATO Summits held from 2022 to 2024.
Overall, the discussions held at the 2025 NATO Summit suggest that the organization is serious about collective security. The 32 members will also take measures to increase their defense capabilities. Time will tell if NATO members will succeed in their newly stated objectives.
Mark Temnycky is a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center and a freelance journalist covering Eurasian affairs.
