According to webangah News Agency,NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has urged member states of the U.S.-lead military alliance to increase missile and air defense capabilities by 400%, citing growing military gaps and threats from Russia and China.
Stoltenberg warned about Russia’s accelerated rearmament outpacing NATO’s ammunition production, stating: “Russia produces in three months what the entire NATO alliance manufactures in one year.”
The NATO chief outlined a new target to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP, describing plans for a “stronger, fairer, and more lethal” alliance. He specified that 3.5% would fund core military requirements while the remainder would strengthen infrastructure and industrial capacity.
“The critical gap in our alliance isn’t investment but production,” Stoltenberg emphasized. “Across NATO nations,we’re simply not producing enough ammunition. We must increase both defense investment and output.”
He cautioned that current production delays mean some advanced air defense systems ordered today wouldn’t be delivered for up to a decade – a timeline he called “unacceptable.”
Reiterating NATO’s defensive posture, Stoltenberg warned: “Any attempt to attack us would bring devastating consequences for the aggressor. We remain deadly serious about this response – whether from Russia or any other nation.”
The Secretary General framed potential Russian aggression as justification for increased military spending: ”Russia appears prepared to attack NATO within five years. We expect members this month to approve raising military expenditures to 5% of GDP.”
