Euractiv: NATO to Count Military Aid to Ukraine as Part of Defense Spending

NATO wants to count new funds spent on strengthening the Ukrainian Armed Forces as “defense-related” within the Alliance’s proposal to raise its defense spending to 5% of GDP. This was reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing Euractiv. New purchases of military equipment specifically for Ukraine, as well as investments in the Ukrainian defense industry, will now be counted by NATO countries as “defense” expenditures in accordance with the new spending targets. According to the publication, the agreement may still be revised before the annual NATO summit takes place in The Hague on June 24–25. The meeting is expected to approve a general agreement to raise defense spending targets from the current 2% of GDP. However, the final details of the targets are likely to be developed at a later stage. The current NATO proposal calls on each member of the Alliance to spend at least 5% of GDP annually on defense: 3.5% of that would go toward core defense areas (military equipment and soldiers’ salaries), while the remaining 1.5% would be allocated to cybersecurity, infrastructure, or resilience-building objectives. According to sources, there is a general consensus among the 32 military allies that only new funds spent on military support for Ukraine will be counted in the second spending category. Under the current state of internal discussions, the value of donations coming from existing stockpiles will not be included in the spending target calculation, in order to avoid double-counting money already spent on acquiring the equipment. The publication notes that equipment supplied to Ukraine from NATO military arsenals was already counted as part of regular core defense spending at the time of its original purchase. However, future orders to replace the donated equipment will still be counted toward the 3.5% core defense spending target. Meanwhile, non-military assistance to Ukraine from NATO countries will not be classified as “defense-related” within the alliance’s target expenditures. In other words, if a NATO country buys new weapons for Ukraine or invests in the Ukrainian defense industry, these expenses will fall under the 1.5% category. If a country replaces weapons previously transferred to Ukraine, those expenses go into the main 3.5% block. If old weapons are donated from storage or humanitarian aid is provided, such contributions are not counted at all. Two sources stated that the decision to classify financial support for Ukraine’s military as NATO defense spending makes sense, given that arming Ukraine has a direct and positive impact on the Alliance’s security.