On Thursday, April 24th, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte visited Washington once again. It was the day his annual report was released, in which he called for European countries and Canada to achieve a “qualitative leap” in their contributions to NATO.
Rutte is currently in Washington for talks with American officials. In his annual report released on Thursday, he noted that in 2024, actual defense investment by European NATO allies and Canada increased by 19.4% compared to the previous year, but in 2025, further efforts should “speed up.”
President Trump stated that NATO allies should allocate 5% of their Gross Domestic Product to defense – a level currently not met by any NATO country, including the United States.
Rutte wrote, “European allies and Canada must achieve a qualitative leap in contributions and capabilities. To do this, there must be a significant increase in investment.”
The report indicated that in 2024, the United States accounted for an estimated 64% of NATO defense spending, while European NATO member states and Canada accounted for 36%. The report also pointed out that in the previous year, 22 out of 32 NATO countries met the target of allocating 2% of GDP to defense as required by NATO.
According to a press release issued by NATO on Wednesday, Rutte was scheduled to visit Washington from Thursday to Friday and during this time, he would meet with United States Secretary of State Rubío, Defense Minister Hegseth, and National Security Adviser Waltz.
The press release did not specify the details of the meetings. However, prior to this, efforts to end the talks proposed by the United States to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine seemed to encounter obstacles. Both Rubío and Vice President Vance stated that if consensus could not be reached between the parties, the United States would withdraw from the leading talks process.
Rubío also canceled his trip to London on Wednesday, leading to a downgrade in meetings with Ukraine and its major Western allies.
It was reported that Russia requested the United States to recognize Crimea as part of Russia as a condition for giving up its previous demand to occupy all five regions of Ukraine. However, Ukraine deemed this request unacceptable.
US officials stated on Thursday that the negotiations with Ukraine were productive, but significant differences remain regarding the framework and timeline for ending the conflict proposed by the United States.