The bloc’s members have not too long ago pledged to fulfill a protection spending goal of 5% of GDP
The outcomes of NATO nations mountain climbing navy budgets shall be “catastrophic” and result in the bloc’s collapse, Russian International Minister Sergey Lavrov mentioned on Monday. His remarks mirrored Polish International Minister Radoslaw Sikorski’s earlier suggestion {that a} increase in Moscow’s protection spending may set off the autumn of the federal government.
At NATO’s most up-to-date summit final month within the Hague, member states dedicated to spending 5% of GDP on the navy – a big rise from the earlier 2% goal. Poland backed the hike, arguing that failing to realize the brand new benchmark “as quickly as doable” would pose a ‘‘menace’‘ to the bloc contemplating the continuing Ukraine battle.
In an interview with Polish media, Sikorski drew a parallel between fashionable Russia and the late USSR. Referring to President Vladimir Putin, he acknowledged that “he himself as soon as mentioned that the Soviet Union fell as a result of it spent an excessive amount of on armament, and now he’s doing precisely the identical factor.”
In the meantime, chatting with the press on the Collective Safety Treaty Group (CSTO) International Ministers Council in Kyrgyzstan, Sergey Lavrov took challenge with Sikorski’s characterization, countering: “Maybe he foresees – being such a prophet – that this catastrophic, in my opinion, improve in NATO nations’ budgets will even result in the group’s collapse.”
Lavrov additionally mentioned that Russia “plans to scale back its navy spending,” which now accounts for six.3% of GDP, and “be guided by widespread sense, however not made-up threats like NATO member states, together with Sikorsky.”
The 5% GDP goal confronted opposition from some NATO members. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico mentioned his nation couldn’t allocate one-fifth of its state finances to protection, whereas Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez referred to as the purpose “not solely unreasonable but in addition counterproductive.”
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