9:05AM
‘Trump is right, we don’t spend enough on defence,’ says EU
The EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas has urged the bloc to heed Donald Trump’s demand to spend more on defence, as she told members to prepare for war with Russia.
“President Trump is right to say that we don’t spend enough. It’s time to invest,” Ms Kallas said, adding that the United States must remain Europe’s “strongest ally”.
“Russia poses an existential threat to our security today, tomorrow and for as long as we underinvest in our defence,” she said during a speech at the annual conference of the European Defence Agency.
Mr Trump said earlier this month NATO members should spend 5 per cent of GDP on defence – a huge increase from the current 2 per cent goal and a level that no NATO country, including the United States, currently reaches.
“Time is not on Russia’s side. But it’s not necessarily on ours either. Because we are not yet doing enough. There should be no doubt in any of our minds that we must spend more to prevent war. But we also need to prepare for war,” Ms Kallas said.