The UK, France, Spain, Italy and Canada reject a NATO plan to spend 0.25 per cent of GDP on military aid for Ukraine. Russia’s aerial strikes on Kramatorsk and Dnipro cause casualties. Belarus does not build up troops near the Ukrainian border, but the threat stays, Ukraine’s border official says.
UK, France, Spain, Italy, Canada reject NATO plan to spend 0.25 per cent of GDP on military aid for Ukraine
Britain and France have scuppered a proposal for Nato allies to spend 0.25 per cent of GDP on military aid for Ukraine, The Telegraph said on Sunday. The paragraphs below are quoted from the article.
Mark Rutte, the alliance’s secretary-general, this week conceded his plan wouldn’t be taken forward because it didn’t have sufficient support.
“I don’t think this one will be proposed,” he told reporters, without naming the opponents.
But now The Telegraph can reveal that the UK, France, Spain, Italy and Canada blocked the idea when it was floated in discussions for how to boost support for Kyiv.
Mr Rutte was hoping to ratify the proposal at Nato’s upcoming annual summit in Ankara, Turkey.
An alliance insider said at least seven member states, who all spend over 0.25 per cent of GDP on military aid to Ukraine, had voiced support.
“They’re not very enthusiastic about the idea,” the insider said, labelling London, Paris, Madrid, Rome and Ottawa as opponents.
The news will come as a double-blow to Britain’s credibility as one of Ukraine’s staunchest allies.
This week, the Government came under intense criticism after it softened sanctions against Russian oil and gas exports. To the surprise of Kyiv and other allies, ministers signed off on a decision to offer time-limited carve-outs for purchases of jet fuel and diesel refined from Russian crude in third countries because of the situation in the Middle East.
Unlike other allies, the size of Britain’s military contribution – the third largest behind the US and Germany – is not in question, despite coming under the 0.25 per cent of GDP mark.
Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, has pledged at least £3bn a year – approximately 0.1 per cent – for the foreseeable future.
Most of the complaints are focused on the likes of France, Spain, Italy and Canada, who have been repeatedly accused of not pulling their weight.
According to publicly available data, collated by the Kiel Institute, the Netherlands, Poland and the Nordic and Baltic countries offer backing at or above 0.25 per cent of GDP.
Mr Rutte has argued that Ukraine aid “is not evenly distributed within Nato”, with many “not spending enough when it comes to the support for Ukraine”.
The Nato chief, who spent 14 years as Dutch prime minister, has long argued that Europe should shoulder more of the responsibility for supporting Ukraine in defence of Donald Trump’s complaints about continental freeloading.
Ahead of a Nato meeting in Sweden earlier this week, the Nordic state’s prime minister challenged allies to step up their support.
“I really would like more countries that speak so extremely well about Ukraine to also put the money where the mouth is,” Ulf Kristersson told reporters.
In other news, during a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in December 2025, Ukraine’s then-defense minister, Denys Shmyhal, addressed the participants with a proposal that they spend 0.25 per cent of their GDP on military aid for Ukraine.
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania then accepted such commitments.
At a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg on May 22, Rutte suggested that allies discuss Estonia’s proposal for the countries to spend 0.25 per cent of their GDP for Ukraine’s defense needs.
Russia’s aerial strikes on Kramatorsk, Dnipro cause casualties
Russia launched two airstrikes on Kramatorsk, in Donetsk region, on Monday morning, killing two people and injuring six others. Russia dropped five FAB-250 aerial bombs on the city, injuring three people, the city council said in a post to social media. In the second episode later that day, it dropped four FAB-250 aerial bombs on Kramatorsk, killing a 64-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman, and injuring three other people.
Apartment buildings, an educational facility, administrative buildings and a medical facility sustained damage.
Four people were injured in a Russian missile attack on Dnipro on Monday. Three people were taken to hospital. Two of them are in a serious condition, head of the regional military administration, Oleksandr Hanzha said. Apartment buildings and educational facilities were damaged in the attack.
A drone attack on Pavlohrad, in the region of Dnipro, on Monday injured 10 people, including a six-year-old boy. An apartment building was damaged.
Belarus does not build up troops near Ukraine border, but threat stays, Ukraine’s border official says
Ukraine does not see strike groups being formed on the border with Belarus, but the threat in this direction stays, spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service, Andriy Demchenko said on television on Monday.
Belarus has been Russia’s accomplice in its war against Ukraine since the invasion, Demchenko said.
“A possible threat from Belarus remains unchanged. Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Belarus has been helping Russia to wage a war against our country. In 2022, it opened its border [for invading Russian troops]. Throughout this time, it has been hosting training of Russian troops and joint military drills. We have to be prepared to face any situations coming from this direction and have our own strong defensive positions along the entire border,” he continued.
Ukraine does not see Belarus building up troops toward the Ukrainian border that would be ready to invade the country, Demchenko said.
Demchenko said that Belarus deploys “certain units” close to Ukraine’s border, but does not “build them up.” The personnel are rotated there, but the situation near the border remains unchanged, he added.
“Luckily, [Ukraine] does not record Belarus building up its army or Russia redeploying its troops to Belarus,” Demchenko said.
Ukraine is following the situation in Belarus in order to be ready to respond if there are changes that require it to do so, he added.
Ukraine’s Security Service and other branches of the military implemented enhanced security measures in the country’s five northern regions that border on Russia and Belarus, the security service said in a statement on May 21.
On May 15, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said he had tasked Ukraine’s defense forces and security agencies to prepare a plan to react to a possible threat coming from Belarus. He also said the Chernihiv-Kyiv direction will be reinforced.
On May 12, Belarus’s leader Alexander Lukashenko announced “selective mobilization” to prepare the army “for a possible war.”