Australia is standing firm on defence spending targets despite European nations vowing to rapidly ratchet up expenditure under pressure from United States President Donald Trump.
On the sidelines of the NATO summit in the Netherlands, Defence Minister Richard Marles said Australia would decide its own spending levels to meet its own military needs.
That risks drawing a rebuke from Trump, who made clear he expects allies to drastically step up to reduce their reliance on the US.
NATO countries, of which Australia is not a member, agreed to increase defence spending targets to 5 per cent of GDP.
Donald Trump has long pushed for NATO allies to spend more on defence. Source: AAP / ANP/Sipa USA
鈥淵ou know what we鈥檙e going to do? We鈥檙e negotiating with Spain on a trade deal and we鈥檙e going to make them pay twice as much,鈥 he said.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 terrible. You know, they (Spain) are doing very well 鈥 and that economy could be blown right out of the water when something bad happens,鈥 Trump said, adding that Spain would get a tougher trade deal from the US than other European Union countries.
鈥楾hat is fundamentally a matter for NATO鈥
Amid news of the defence-spending boost from NATO members, Marles maintained Australia would stick with its own defence spending process, which will see the nation鈥檚 share increase from two to 2.3 per cent by 2033/34.
鈥淲e鈥檝e gone through our own process of assessing our strategic landscape, assessing the threats that exist there, and the kind of defence force we need to build in order to meet those threats, to meet the strategic moment, and then to resource that.
鈥淎nd what that has seen is the biggest peacetime increase in Australian Defence spending.
鈥淣ow that is a story which is, which is understood here and we鈥檒l continue to assess what our needs are going forward. And as our prime minister has said, we will resource that.鈥
Trump hails NATO uplift as 鈥榞reat victory 鈥
In a five-point statement, NATO endorsed the higher defence spending goal 鈥 a response not only to Trump but also to Europeans鈥 fears that Russia poses a growing threat to their security following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The 32 allies鈥 brief communique added: 鈥淲e reaffirm our ironclad commitment to collective defence as enshrined in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty 鈥 that an attack on one is an attack on all.鈥
Trump told a press conference that 鈥渨e had a great victory here鈥, adding that he hoped that the additional funds would be spent on military hardware made in the US.
Asked to clarify his own stance on Article 5 after recent ambiguous comments, Trump said: 鈥淚 stand with it. That鈥檚 why I鈥檓 here. If I didn鈥檛 stand with it, I wouldn鈥檛 be here.鈥
Despite an appearance of general agreement, French President Emmanuel Macron raised the issue of the steep import tariffs threatened by Trump, and the damage they may do to transatlantic trade, as a barrier to increased defence spending.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 say we are going to spend more and then, at the heart of NATO, launch a trade war,鈥 Macron said, calling it 鈥渁n aberration鈥. He said he had raised it several times with Trump.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who hosted the summit in his home city of The Hague, said NATO would emerge as a 鈥榮tronger, fairer and more lethal鈥 alliance.
The new spending target 鈥 to be achieved over the next 10 years 鈥 is a jump worth hundreds of billions of dollars a year from the current goal of 2 per cent of GDP, although it will be measured differently.
Countries pledged to spend 3.5 per cent of GDP on core defence 鈥 such as troops and weapons 鈥 and 1.5 per cent on broader defence-related measures such as cyber security, protecting pipelines and adapting roads and bridges to handle heavy military vehicles.
The additional spending will be a tall order for European nations, many of which have strained finances.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had to settle for attending the pre-summit dinner on Tuesday evening rather than the main meeting on Wednesday, although he met Trump separately after the conference ended.
The Kremlin has accused NATO of being on a path of rampant militarisation and portraying Russia as a 鈥渇iend of hell鈥 in order to justify its big increase in defence spending.