UK and France reject Rutte's proposal to allocate 0.25% of NATO members' GDP for Ukraine aid

Moscow (ANTARA) - The UK and French governments have rejected NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s proposal to allocate 0.25% of all member states’ GDP to assist Ukraine, according to The Telegraph on Sunday (24 May).

The Telegraph, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported that Rutte had previously proposed that all NATO member states add 0.25% of their GDP to defence budgets specifically for arming Ukraine.

Rutte promoted the initiative as a way to ensure uninterrupted military aid to Kyiv.

The proposal was rejected by France, the UK, Spain, Italy, and Canada, while seven other member states accepted it, the report said.

The newspaper did not specify which countries supported Rutte’s initiative but added that they were already spending more than that on arming Kyiv.

According to a study by the Kiel Institute for World Economics, the countries in question could be the Netherlands and Poland, along with some Nordic and Baltic nations.

Russia has repeatedly stated that Western arms supplies to Ukraine hinder the resolution of the military conflict and make NATO countries parties to the crisis.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has also warned that any cargo containing weapons for Ukraine would be a legitimate target for the Russian military.