About the Hague Summit Declaration
On 25 June, the NATO Summit in the Hague concluded with the NATO members' commitment to increase the defence budget to five per cent of their GDP by 2035. US President Donald Trump claimed it as a “big win” for the West. The NATO defence declaration requires the member countries to spend five per cent. Out of which, 3.5 per cent will be spent on “core defence requirements, and to meet the NATO Capability Targets,” and 1.5 per cent will be on “critical infrastructure, defend our networks, ensure our civil preparedness and resilience, unleash innovation, and strengthen our defence industrial base.” The spending and the trajectory of this plan will be reviewed in 2029. Second, the commitment to defence and deterrence. The NATO alliance recognises the hybrid threats like cyberattacks and damage to critical infrastructure, and the need to improve the deterrence and defence posture. The declaration assured that the increased defence investment will help NATO to strengthen its capabilities on land, sea, air, space and cyberspace. Lastly, on Ukraine, the alliance commits for EUR 35 billion additional security aid and stressed on ensuring Ukraine’s long-term defence and boosting capacity to prevent future aggression. 

Differences over five per cent defence budget
During the summit, Trump called out Spain, which was against the spending target. He said that if not by NATO defence, then they will have to go through trade. Spain, along with Slovakia and Belgium, is also opting to stay out of the defence goal. This comes after recent protests in Madrid for corruption, which have prevented Spain from meeting the five per cent defence goal. Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, said that they would contribute two per cent, and said that Spain would achieve military capabilities, as determined by NATO. While Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico said that they have to preserve the sovereign right to decide their pace and structure to increase the budget. Whereas, Belgium’s Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said that, along with their diplomats, they are taking initiatives to build flexible mechanisms that will reduce the burden on Belgium. 

Trump’s meeting with Zelenskyy
On 25 June, ABC News reported that on the sidelines of the NATO Summit, Trump met with Zelenskyy and confirmed that the US is sending monetary and defence aid to Ukraine to defend itself against Russia. In the press conference, Trump said that the US will send additional aid and send the Patriot air-defence missiles to Ukraine. The delivery of the anti-drone weapons or the Patriot missiles was promised to Ukraine under an agreement signed in the Biden administration. Trump said that these missiles are scarce and difficult to attain, but they are effective, as they are supplying them to Israel. He added that the talks with Zelenskyy were successful, and praised him for his goal to end the war with Russia. Zelenskyy responded that Ukraine was willing to buy weapons from the US.