Estonia: President urges NATO to raise defence spending to 3% of GDP

NATO must be ready for Russia turning even more hostile in the decade to come, Estonian President Alar Karis warned, ERR reports. Speaking after a meeting with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda in Vilnius, Karis said that Russia would remain NATO’s most serious military threat for a very long time. He called on NATO allies to consider increasing their defence spending from 2% to 2.5% or 3% of GDP. On Ukraine, Karis insisted that no limits should be placed on further military aid and that Ukraine’s path to NATO membership was “non-negotiable” and “irreversible.” Karis and Nauseda discussed bilateral cooperation, regional security, and the upcoming NATO summit in Washington.