Starmer Signals Support for 3.5% NATO Aim With Talks on Date
United Kingdom soldiers storm an enemy position in a simulated attack during the NATO military exercise in Drawsko Pomorskie, Poland.
Photographer: Sean Gallup/Getty ImagesPrime Minister Keir Starmer indicated that the UK was prepared to endorse a new NATO target committing 3.5% of members’ economic output to core defense spending, although he emphasized that key details such as the timeline were still being negotiated.
The remarks by Starmer were the closest he has come to embracing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s latest attempt to appease US President Donald Trump’s spending demands on European allies. The 3.5% target that NATO expects to adopt later this month is far more ambitious, in both magnitude and speed, than the 3% goal that the British premier set for himself earlier this year.