The Iran crisis has dominated a Nato summit in The Hague with US President Donald Trump saying the US had “obliterated” Tehran's nuclear programme and praising a historic boost in allied defence spending.
Revealing that the US and Iran were prepared for talks next week, the US leader said his strikes had brought Tehran to the table. “They've had it,” Mr Trump said, referring to Iran. “We think [the nuclear material] is covered with granite, concrete and steel.
“We’re going to talk to them next week – with Iran – we may sign an agreement. I don’t know, to me, I don’t think it’s necessary.
“The way I look at it, they fought, the war is done,” he said.
Mr Trump added Iran would not go back “into the nuclear business” any time soon. He cited a statement from the Israel Atomic Energy Commission that said Iran faced a setback of “many years”.
Speaking alongside Mr Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US was ready to engage in direct negotiations with Iran. “It depends on Iran's willingness to discuss directly with the US, not through a third or fourth party,” Mr Rubio said.
Praise for ceasefire
The summit spotlight saw Mr Trump compared his intervention in Iran to the US dropping nuclear bombs on Japanese cities to end the Second World War.
The knock-on consequences of the Iranian-Israeli ceasefire are still being worked out but the US leader said he hoped it would make it easier to end the offensive in Gaza. Efforts to broker a ceasefire and the return of hostages are said to have intensified in recent hours.
During the summit Nato secretary general Mark Rutte repeatedly complimented Mr Trump's involvement in the Iran crisis. “You are a man of strength and also a man of peace,” Mr Rutte said. “The fact that you are now also successful in getting this ceasefire done between Israel and Iran – I really want to commend you for that.”
Defence spending boost
Allies endorsed a goal of five per cent of GDP annually that will lead to the spending of trillions of dollars on defence in the next decade, following pressure from Mr Trump, who described the move as a “very historic milestone”.
“It’s a monumental win to the United States because we were carrying way more than our fair share [of spending]. It was quite unfair actually,” Mr Trump said. “This is a big win for Europe and, actually, for western civilisation.
“We’re here to help them protect their country.”
Unease over Mr Trump's unwillingness to restate to Nato's mutual defence pact, known as Article 5, was addressed by the closing statement's reference to an ironclad commitment to the pact.
“I stand with it, that’s why I’m here,” Mr Trump said, one day after saying there were 'numerous definitions of Article 5'. “If I didn’t stand with it, I wouldn’t be here,” he added.
Europeans succeeded in locking in Mr Trump's continued support for the alliance, which he has repeatedly criticised. To accommodate his lack of appetite for long talks, the meeting of heads of state lasted less than three hours, and, at just one page, the final statement was shorter than usual.
“We reaffirm our ironclad commitment to collective defence as enshrined in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty – that an attack on one is an attack on all,” read the statement. “Allies commit to invest five per cent of GDP annually on core defence requirements as well as defence and security-related spending by 2035.”
Mr Trump met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the Nato leaders reaffirmed their commitment to supporting his country in the war with Russia. Unlike previous years, Mr Zelenskyy was not invited to the closed-door meeting of the Nato members.
In a post on social media, Mr Zelenskyy said he had discussed buying US air-defence systems with Mr Trump during their meeting, adding that Kyiv was “ready to buy this equipment and support American weapons manufacturers”.
Support for Ukraine
Language in the final communique on Russia, described in last year's summit as “the most direct and significant threat” to allies, was also watered down to a “long-term threat”. This comes in line with Mr Trump who has a difficult relationship with Mr Zelenskyy but has often spoken warmly of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The statement made no mention of China or Iran.
Europeans insisted that Nato is committed to supporting Ukraine. The position among the alliance has “not changed on Ukraine”, said UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Mr Rutte said that the 5 per cent endorsement was a defeat for Mr Putin. “He cannot be very happy, and he should not be very happy,” he said, adding that military aid to Ukraine would be more than last year's $50 billion.
Mr Rutte also attempted to dispel fears over US commitment to Article 5, telling Europeans and Canadians to “stop worrying” about it.
Pushback
But some countries, including Belgium and Spain, have expressed reservations about the new spending goals, leading to anger from Mr Trump. He singled out Spain and promised to retaliate in trade negotiations.
Spain has contended that it can fulfil its commitments to Nato by spending less than 3.5 per cent of GDP expenditure on hard defence – an argument that has been rejected by Mr Rutte.
Belgium joined in, with Prime Minister Bart de Wever saying that achieving the 3.5 per cent of GDP goal was a “matter of interpretation”.
“If Spain can do it by spending less money, then others should follow,” Mr de Wever said. “We’ll certainly also try to achieve our capability targets and if possible spend less than 3.5 per cent of our GDP,” he said.
Spain's resistance was criticised by Mr Trump who said: “They want a little bit of a free ride, but they’ll have to pay it back to us on trade.”
Almost one third of Nato allies have yet to reach a 2 per cent goal set a decade ago. Only three countries – Lithuania, Latvia and Poland – spend more than 3.5 per cent on defence. Canada is among those unlikely to hit that figure. This month, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada would reach the 2 per cent spending target by 2030.
In contrast, Germany said it would reach 3.5 per cent by 2029, six years before the deadline.
“We do not take these decisions to please anyone, but we act out of our own conviction that Nato as a whole, in particular the European part of Nato, must do more in the coming years to make sure we can defend ourselves,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said.
