Latest news with #militarySpending
Russia Today
07-07-2025
- Business
- Russia Today
Brazil's Lula accuses NATO of fueling arms race
NATO is fueling a global arms race by pushing for massive increases in military spending, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said. The US-led military bloc endorsed a plan last month to raise its defense spending target from 2% to 5% of GDP. Speaking on Sunday at the opening of the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro, Lula said the world is experiencing a record number of armed conflicts since World War II and warned that NATO's policies are exacerbating the situation. 'NATO's recent decision [to raise military spending to 5% of GDP] is fueling an arms race,' Lula said. 'It has become much easier to invest in maintaining wars than to invest in achieving peace,' the Brazilian leader said, referring to previous Western promises to provide 0.7% of GDP to aid developing countries. While not yet formalized, the NATO proposal has been backed by Secretary-General Mark Rutte and several member states, including the US and Poland. A number of Western leaders have justified the spending increase as a response to what they claim is a growing threat from Russia. Moscow has consistently denied any intention to attack NATO states and dismissed such warnings as baseless fearmongering aimed at justifying militarization and distracting from domestic problems. In an interview published on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated that NATO's expansion toward Russia's borders and efforts to integrate Ukraine into the alliance constitute a direct threat to Russian security. He said these moves left Moscow with no choice but to launch its military operation against Kiev in 2022. Lavrov also accused NATO of transforming itself into an offensive bloc, pointing to its past interventions in Yugoslavia, Iraq, and Libya. He claimed that NATO's militarization and demonization of Russia are being used to deflect attention from inflation, migration, and other domestic problems in the West. The minister has also warned that NATO's proposed spending increase could end up being 'catastrophic' and lead to the bloc's collapse. Moscow, meanwhile, intends to reduce its military spending in the coming years – a process that will be guided by 'common sense, not made-up threats like NATO member states,' Lavrov said.
Irish Times
24-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Trump arrives in The Hague for Nato summit as members agree to increase defence spending
US president Donald Trump has arrived in The Hague where he will attend a landmark Nato summit on Wednesday. The gathering is expected to substantially boost military spending in support of Ukraine and as a deterrent against further Russian aggression in Europe. Mr Trump is expected to be told that Nato member states – with a special exemption for Spain which has been criticised by Mr Trump – have agreed to an increase of 5 per cent of GDP in defence spending. The two-tier agreement designed by Nato secretary general Mark Rutte commits the alliance to an increase of 3.5 per cent of GDP for military spending combined with an additional increase of 1.5 per cent of GDP for dual-use costs, such as infrastructure and cybersecurity. READ MORE Under the new agreement, the increases will come into effect incrementally by 2035 – although countries on Nato's eastern flank, such as Estonia, insist this lead-in time is too long to prevent further aggression by Moscow. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived earlier on Tuesday for a series of meetings on the margins of the summit – although, because Ukraine is not a Nato member, he will not attend the leaders' North Atlantic Council meeting on Wednesday to seal the military spending deal. In a brief comment, he said he expected to meet Mr Trump for talks which remained to be scheduled. Despite past differences, he praised Mr Trump for continuing to engage with Russian president Vladimir Putin, whose all-out invasion of Ukraine began the war in February 2022. Mr Zelenskiy's first meeting was with caretaker Dutch prime minister Dick Schoof – formerly head of the country's intelligence service – at his official residence a short distance from the summit venue. At that meeting, Mr Zelenskiy appealed for more European support for Ukraine's defence industry and heard that the Netherlands has unilaterally allocated another aid package of €175 million for Ukraine, including €80 million for drones and radar equipment. Afterwards, he addressed a joint session of both houses of the Dutch parliament, where he expressed concerns about Moscow's links to other 'bloody regimes' and called for strict enforcement of sanctions. As the Nato leaders gathered, Mr Rutte told a public forum he believed there was 'total commitment' to Nato on the part of Mr Trump and the US – despite the president's persistent complaints that Europe and Canada had not been paying enough. Mr Rutte also insisted that the US decision to strike three nuclear enrichment facilities in Iran over the weekend would not affect Nato's combined focus on supporting Ukraine. 'Today, Nato's military edge is being challenged by a rapidly rearming Russia, backed by Chinese technology and armed with Iranian and North Korean weapons,' he warned. 'Only Europe and North America together can rise to meet the challenge of that rearmament.' However, there was an embarrassing end to the day for Mr Rutte when an apparently private email he sent to President Trump on board Air Force One was retweeted by the president. Flattering him for his 'decisive action in Iran', Mr Rutte added, 'You are flying into another big success in The Hague.' Mr Trump had been expected to stay with his entourage at a hotel on the North Sea coast. However, in a late change to his schedule, he accepted a rare invitation to overnight at Huis ten Bosch palace, home to King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima and their three daughters. Mr Trump boarded Air Force One at Andrews air base around lunchtime, landed at Schiphol airport in early evening and travelled directly to the palace for a formal banquet attended by 45 heads of state and government, including Mr Zelenskiy.
Telegraph
20-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Defence spending fails to account for spiralling cost of nuclear deterrent
Defence spending failed to account for the spiralling cost of Britain's nuclear deterrent, MPs have said. A report by the public accounts committee into the Ministry of Defence's spending plans has found that the rising costs of maintaining the nuclear deterrent and submarines risk squeezing budgets for 'conventional capabilities'. It comes after the Government recently published its strategic defence review (SDR), which aimed to show how the Armed Forces will adapt to future battlefields. It committed to renewing the nuclear deterrent while also spending £40 billion on new equipment for the Army and investing in a sixth-generation fighter. However, the committee's report called on the Government to be transparent regarding the 'specific cost details in the specific area of nuclear'. It called for the MoD to publish an equipment plan, which it said should provide a 'window' into the department's spending but has not been published since 2023. The report authors also said that they wanted 'to be assured on the risk of funding not being sucked away from other vital areas earmarked for growth in the SDR'. 'The Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE) remains a cornerstone of the UK's defence strategy,' it said. 'However, its cost continues to rise, and there is a risk that these increases will squeeze the budgets for conventional capabilities.' The report states that the nuclear budget was £10.9 billion, around 18 per cent of the whole defence budget in 2024-25. But forecast costs for the DNE for the 10 years from 2023 until 2033 have increased to approximately £128 billion, up from the £117.8 billion reported in the National Audit Offices's 2023 equipment plan report. 'The prioritisation of the DNE has led to government creating a ring-fence which prevents the department from using elsewhere money allocated to delivering the DNE, but which allows money to flow the other way,' the report said. 'The department recognises that one of the big capability questions it must answer through the SDR and its follow-on work is the balance of investment between nuclear and conventional capabilities. However, it has not yet worked this through.' It added: 'The increase in nuclear costs may restrict the money available for other important needs.' The report suggests such other 'important needs' range from improving poor accommodation for troops and addressing the military's retention and recruitment crisis. Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chairman of the committee, said: 'In the context of continuing geopolitical uncertainty, this continued delay in providing figures for public scrutiny is a truly unacceptable state of affairs. 'This committee has made a number of recommendations to government to offer it another chance to cooperate. 'There is also a material risk of the costs of the nuclear deterrent beginning to act as a ratchet mechanism. 'As well as a fully worked-up picture of equipment overall, we require specific cost details in the specific area of nuclear, to be assured on the risk of funding not being sucked away from other vital areas earmarked for growth in the SDR.' He added: 'If government does not come forward with the requisite details very soon, Parliament will be unable to critically assess the underpinnings of the SDR, and it will remain to be seen how the public can thereby ascertain whether what is planned, including the pledge of 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence spending, is deliverable. 'The MoD can, however, be rightfully proud of the role it has played in supporting Ukraine in resisting Russia's brutal invasion. 'The adaptability and responsiveness of government in constantly innovating both in the assistance provided and in its own processes has been truly commendable, and this committee thanks all involved for their continuing efforts.'
Wall Street Journal
16-06-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Nations Head to G-7 Hoping to Reach Trade Deals With Trump
Nations are eyeing the G-7 summit in Canada this week as an opportunity to strike trade deals with President Trump—or at least build momentum to keep talking and ease tensions over tariffs. Japan, the European Union, Canada and Mexico all hope that face time with Trump will help them persuade the president to lower at least some of his most onerous tariffs in exchange for a range of concessions, such as higher military spending, action against China and cuts to tariffs and other trade barriers on U.S. companies. The hope from America's trading partners is that direct contact with the president can break through impasses.
Reuters
04-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Deal-hungry equity investors eye Europe's potential defence industry boom
BERLIN, June 4 (Reuters) - Global investors and advisers gathered at their annual conference in Berlin are looking at channelling funds into Europe's defence industry, seeking to profit from governments' ramped-up military spending and revive a sluggish private equity market. Private equity and venture capital-backed investment in Europe's aerospace and defence sector is dwarfed by that funnelled into the U.S. and Canada, which have absorbed 83% of all such investment since 2020, according to S&P. Once a controversial topic for investors in Europe concerned with environmental, social, and governance investment policies, the continent's defence sector is now drawing private equity funds, said seven advisers and fund executives - some of whom are attending the SuperReturn conference this week. European money managers have been reconsidering policies on investing in defence, under pressure from clients and some politicians to loosen restrictions and help fund the continent's race to re-arm and reduce dependence on the U.S. "Defence used to be a topic that received automatic exclusion, now even some ESG-focused investors are looking to deploy capital to support European defence," said Sophia Alison, EMEA Direct Lending Portfolio Manager at Macquarie Asset Management, who was attending the conference. "That's a very tangible shift from 12 or 18 months ago." While none of them gave estimates of how much funding might shift from Europe from the U.S. and Canada, private investors are looking in particular at opportunities in space technology, both for military and civilian use. Several panels on investing in Germany were held on Tuesday, ahead of the first main conference day on Wednesday when tennis star Serena Williams was set to address an estimated 5,500 attendees. Germany's recent infrastructure and defence investment programmes, including its 500-billion euro ($570 billion) initiative approved in March, have bolstered the country's attractiveness to private equity firms. "We feel the momentum and change in sentiment that Germany and Europe are more in focus than before," said Simon Pex, managing director at Carlyle (CG.O), opens new tab Europe Partners. "The more positive political sentiment in the country might accelerate economic growth in a positive way. Germany could be a good place of opportunity in the next decade." Despite the optimism around Europe's defence spending, broader private equity dealmaking remains constrained by the threat of recession. The value of private equity assets sales through the initial public offering market in Europe has dropped to an average of $3.7 billion in the last four years, a fraction of the more than $17 billion on average in the previous four years, according to Dealogic data. Investors are heading into their fourth straight year of muted realisations from their portfolios, said Joana Rocha Scaff, head of Europe Private Equity at Neuberger Berman. "Despite many investors' initial optimism about a benign macro backdrop for 2025, the turbulence and noise since January has weighed on investment activity, delayed exits via M&A or IPOs and in doing so tightened liquidity conditions," she said. At the current pace, 2025 will become the fourth consecutive year with private equity asset sales below $144 billion, the average since 2014, Dealogic data shows. ($1 = 0.8771 euros)
