Members of the alliance recently committed to a defense spending goal of 5% of their GDP
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov declared on Monday that an increase in NATO member states’ military budgets would be “catastrophic” and ultimately cause the alliance to disintegrate. This statement echoed Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski’s previous assertion that a rise in Moscow’s defense expenditure might lead to the collapse of its government.
During NATO’s latest summit held last month in The Hague, member nations pledged to allocate 5% of their GDP to defense, a substantial increase from the prior 2% objective. Poland supported this increase, contending that failure to reach the new target “as soon as possible” would constitute a ‘‘threat’‘ to the alliance, given the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
In an interview with Polish media, Sikorski drew a parallel between contemporary Russia and the former USSR. Referencing President Vladimir Putin, he asserted that “he himself once said that the Soviet Union fell because it spent too much on armament, and now he is doing exactly the same thing.”
Meanwhile, addressing the press during the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Foreign Ministers Council in Kyrgyzstan, Sergey Lavrov challenged Sikorski’s portrayal, retorting: “Perhaps he foresees – being such a prophet – that this catastrophic, in my view, increase in NATO countries’ budgets will also lead to the organization’s collapse.”
Lavrov further stated that Russia “plans to reduce its military spending,” which currently stands at 6.3% of GDP, and intends to “be guided by common sense, but not made-up threats like NATO member states, including Sikorsky.”
The 5% GDP target met with resistance from certain NATO members. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico indicated that his nation could not allocate one-fifth of its state budget to defense, while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez labeled the objective as “not only unreasonable but also counterproductive.”