The catastrophic increase in defense spending by NATO countries will lead to the collapse of the alliance. Western countries must be guided by common sense.

This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov after the end of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.

“He probably predicts, since he is such a forecaster, that the catastrophic, in my opinion, increase in the budgets of NATO countries will lead to the collapse of this organization,” said Lavrov, when asked to comment on statements by Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski that Russia's increase in military spending would lead to its collapse.

"And Russia, as President [Vladimir Putin] said the other day, speaking in Minsk after a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, plans to reduce its military spending and be guided by common sense. Not with fabricated and far-fetched threats, as NATO member states, including Sikorski, are doing," the minister said.

The leaders of the North Atlantic Alliance countries agreed to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP, according to a communiqué adopted at the end of the NATO summit held in The Hague on June 24-25. By 2035, alliance member states will allocate at least 3.5% of GDP based on the NATO definition of defense spending and up to 1.5% of GDP to protect critical infrastructure, networks, ensuring civil preparedness and resilience, stimulating innovation, and strengthening the defense industrial base.

On June 20, US President Donald Trump expressed his conviction that the US should not be subject to his request to NATO member states to increase their military spending to 5% of GDP. | BGNES