Italy's defense spending target remains 2% of GDP, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said today, commenting on US President Donald Trump's call for NATO countries to increase it to 5%, Italian news agency ANSA reported, quoted by BTA.
“We still haven't reached 2%. For now, our target is 2 percent, officially set by NATO“, Crosetto told reporters before giving a statement to the Lower House on the war in Ukraine. “The next NATO summit will take place at the end of June. We'll see if they set a different target then. "It's 2% for now," he added.
In front of parliament, Crosetto confirmed Italy's support for Ukraine after Russia's invasion.
"We are on the side of the people, not the criminals. This does not mean that we have forgotten our decades-long friendship with Russia," the minister said.