Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte has warned that many member countries are not spending enough to support Ukraine, as the alliance faces continued Russian aggression. Speaking in Sweden, Rutte said that defence contributions for Ukraine 'is not evenly distributed within Nato,' with only a limited group of nations leading the effort, including Sweden, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, whose country is the third-largest donor to Ukraine, called on other Nato allies to increase their financial support. 'It would be far better if more countries competed with our size of support,' he said, urging members to 'put the money where the mouth is'.
The warnings come as Russia has intensified threats against Baltic states, accusing them of collaborating with Ukraine to launch drone attacks. Latvia reported a third drone alert in three days, while Lithuania issued its second alert. Estonia summoned Russia’s senior diplomat over what it called Moscow's 'continued disinformation campaign'.
Meanwhile, Czech President Petr Pavel cautioned that 'peace in Europe can no longer be treated as the default state of affairs', adding that many assumptions of the old security architecture are no longer valid. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also proposed that Ukraine be granted 'associate membership' of the EU to accelerate its integration and bolster peace talks.
