NATO urges Europe to share more defense burden, announces new Ukraine aid

NATO leaders urged European allies and Canada to take on more responsibility for the alliance's security on Thursday, as member states announced new military and financial assistance for Ukraine at a meeting in Brussels, reported Xinhua.

Defense ministers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) met here to discuss issues including strengthening collective security and supporting Ukraine. They also convened a session of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG), attended by Ukraine's new defense minister, Mykhailo Fedorov.

Speaking at the defense ministers' meeting, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the United States has been urging NATO and European and Canadian allies to do more, adding that it is crucial for Europe and Canada to step up within the alliance.

Rutte said the shift in leadership from the United States to Europe is also reflected in command roles and force deployments, with Europeans set to lead certain commands, expand initiatives such as the "Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List" (PURL) program, a NATO-led U.S. arms-buying scheme, and with countries like Germany planning to station a full brigade in Lithuania.

He said this change in mindset would strengthen NATO by addressing long-standing U.S. concerns over burden-sharing.

"You have to spend more, at least equalize with the U.S.," Rutte said.

U.S. Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby told the gathering that the United States aims to transform NATO into an alliance based on partnership rather than dependency.

Last year, NATO member states committed to investing 5 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) in defense and security by 2035.

"Some allies, like Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, are already at or above our investment goals," Rutte said. "Others, like Germany, are on track to double their investment from just a few years ago."

"And at the same time, a NATO where Europe is stepping up, with Canada, taking more of a leadership role," Rutte added.

A new 35 billion U.S. dollars aid package to support Ukraine was announced during a press conference after the meeting by British Defense Secretary John Healey.

Earlier, Healey also announced a half-a-billion-pound (680 million U.S. dollars) package for urgent air defense support to Ukraine.

"Today, I'm announcing a new half-a-billion-pound package of urgent air defense support, which is President Zelensky's top priority," Healey told a meeting of the UDCG.

He explained that 150 million pounds of the total will be allocated for air defense interceptors in the PURL program, and 400 million pounds will be used for lightweight multirole missiles. In addition, Britain will provide an extra 1,200 air defense missiles together with its partners from the air defense consortium.

Healey also said that in 2025, the UDCG collectively raised 45 billion U.S. dollars in military aid for Ukraine, and for 2026, they "must do more and push harder."

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Germany would continue delivering weapons, including guided missiles.

According to Pistorius, Ukraine will need at least 60 billion U.S. dollars in 2026 to defend itself. He added that Germany is prepared to deliver five additional interceptor missiles to Ukraine, subject to certain conditions.