NATO chief says some allies not contributing enough to Ukraine support

NATO allies are not contributing evenly to support Ukraine, with some countries failing to do enough, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Thursday.

Speaking at a press conference alongside Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Rutte said support for Ukraine remained uneven across the 32-member alliance.

“There are a limited amount of countries, including Sweden, which is really punching above its weight when it comes to the support for Ukraine,” he said.

Rutte said Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway were among the countries making major contributions, but stressed that “many are still not doing enough,” highlighting what he described as a continued imbalance in burden-sharing within NATO.

He said he had proposed that allies commit around 0.25% of gross domestic product (GDP) to Ukraine-related support, but acknowledged the proposal had not received unanimous support among member states.

“But it has at least started the debate between allies,” he said, adding that the discussion was now “heavily taking place in NATO.”

Rutte argued that if allies agree Ukraine must remain strong and move toward a sustainable peace, then support should be distributed more evenly across the alliance.

He also reaffirmed NATO’s deterrence posture, saying the alliance’s commitment to defend every member state remained “absolute,” while warning of a “devastating response” to any attack on NATO territory.

Rutte added that rising defense spending by European allies and Canada was helping reduce overreliance on any single ally, particularly the US, describing the shift as part of broader efforts to strengthen European defense capabilities.

“It is necessary because in the end we cannot be over reliant and keep on having the over reliance on one ally is simply not healthy,” he added.