Today's Edition
THE HAGUE (dpa)
NATO leaders, including US President Donald Trump, gathered at Huis ten Bosch palace in The Hague on Tuesday evening for a state dinner hosted by the Dutch royal family, kicking off a summit of the Western defence alliance.
The gathering is the first NATO meeting attended by Trump since he returned to office with renewed determination to prevent other allies from piggy-backing on the massive US defence budget.
Allies gathered in the Dutch city are expected to commit on Wednesday to increasing their annual defence-related expenditure to at least 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035, following persistent pressure from Washington.
Under the plans, at least 3.5% of GDP is to be allocated to traditional military expenditure and an additional 1.5% of GDP to related expenses including infrastructure.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte "saluted" Trump for getting European allies to hike defence expenses at the state dinner.
The new spending target represents a huge challenge for many of the 32 NATO states, and has not been without opposition.
In contrast to previous alliance summits, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who arrived in The Hague on Tuesday, will not take part in formal NATO consultations but was only invited to attend events on the sidelines.
