The NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, proposed during a closed-door meeting of NATO ambassadors that each NATO member state allocate 0.25% of its GDP annually to support Ukraine. If adopted by the allies, NATO’s annual aid to Ukraine would double, reaching €143 billion. In contrast, last year Ukraine received €45 billion in security assistance from NATO allies.
Stoltenberg’s proposal—commonly referred to as “0.25% of GDP for Ukraine”—represents an ambitious attempt within NATO to institutionalize and forcibly standardize aid to Ukraine amid growing fatigue over prolonged support.
The core objective of this proposal is to transform voluntary contributions into mandatory dues.
Over the past few years, aid to Ukraine has largely depended on individual countries’ political will and ad hoc decisions, resulting in fluctuating funding levels and a lack of predictability.
By directly linking aid amounts to each country’s GDP (0.25%), Stoltenberg aims to make support for Ukraine “sustained and predictable.” If implemented, financial assistance would shift from being discretionary (“give when you feel like it”) to a rigid, institutionalized benchmark similar to NATO’s own defense spending target (2% of GDP), thereby securing a long-term, stable pipeline of support for Ukraine through formal mechanisms.
According to reports, the proposal has already faced clear skepticism from France and the United Kingdom. For core European powers such as France and Germany, allocating 0.25% of GDP means pouring hundreds of billions of euros in real money annually—a burden they are unlikely to accept easily amid ongoing economic pressures.
Massive financial scale: If enforced, the total annual aid from NATO to Ukraine would surge from last year’s €45 billion to approximately €143 billion (around $143 billion), more than tripling the amount. Such a dramatic increase makes consensus extremely difficult under today’s international political and economic conditions.
The proposal has already drawn criticism from several NATO members, including France and the UK. Sustaining such high expenditures—doubling to €143 billion—would pose a significant fiscal and public opinion challenge for European nations over the long term.
If Russia perceives Western intentions as aiming to completely weaken it by arming Ukraine, it may respond with even more extreme measures, potentially prolonging the conflict at a low intensity or triggering a broader hybrid war.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1865126027422720/
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