AMSTERDAM (dpa-AFX) - NATO leaders have pledged to increase the annual defense spending of their countries, ultimately up to 5 percent of their gross domestic product.
During a press briefing at the end of the NATO Summit in The Hague, Netherlands, U.S. President Donald Trump emphasized the need for all member states to share the financial burden of European defense spending.
'It's vital that this additional money be spent on very serious military hardware, not bureaucracy, and hopefully that hardware is going to be made in America because we have the best hardware in the world,' Trump said, noting the successful air defense of the United States' Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar against Iranian missile attack Monday.
Trump also mentioned the war in Ukraine, which he said has highlighted the urgency of rebuilding the defense industrial base, both in the United States and among the allied nations.
'No other military on Earth could have done it, and now this incredible exercise of American strength has paved the way for peace with a historic ceasefire agreement,' he said, referring to the cessation of hostilities between Israel and Iran.
The president added that he's hoping to obtain a peace agreement with Iran.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the summit was a success and highlighted the Hague Defense Investment Plan, which he said, 'will fuel a quantum leap in our collective defense.'
'Together, allies have laid the foundations for a stronger, fairer and more lethal NATO,' Rutte added.
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