Europe, Canada say they’ll spend more on defence

Brussels: European NATO allies and Canada on Friday said they are willing to ramp up defence spending but are cool on US demands for the size of their military budgets, particularly given President Donald Trump’s readiness to draw closer to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

US allies have spent billions of dollars more on defense since Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago, but almost a third of them still do not meet NATO’s target of at least 2 per cent of their gross domestic product.

Trump has said that US allies should commit to spending at least 5 per cent.