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Spain Rejects NATO’s Anticipated Defense Spending Increase as 'Unreasonable'

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks during a press conference at the Spanish Embassy in Beijing, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks during a press conference at the Spanish Embassy in Beijing, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
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Spain Rejects NATO’s Anticipated Defense Spending Increase as 'Unreasonable'

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks during a press conference at the Spanish Embassy in Beijing, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks during a press conference at the Spanish Embassy in Beijing, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

Spain has rejected a NATO proposal to spend 5% of GDP on defense needs that’s due to be announced next week, calling it “unreasonable.”

In a letter sent Thursday to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said that Spain “cannot commit to a specific spending target in terms of GDP” at next week’s NATO summit in The Hague.

Most US allies at NATO are on track to endorse US President Donald Trump’s demand that they invest 5% of gross domestic product on their defense and military needs. In early June, Sweden and the Netherlands said that they aim to meet the new target, The AP news reported.

Spain was the lowest spender in the 32-nation military alliance last year, directing less than 2% of its GDP on defense expenditure.

In April, Sánchez said the government would raise defense spending by 10.5 billion euros ($12 billion) in 2025 to reach NATO’s previous target of 2% of GDP.

After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, NATO’s 32 allies agreed to spend at least 2% of GDP on their military budgets. But NATO plans for defending Europe and North America against a Russian attack require investment of at least 3%.

The aim now is to raise the bar to 3.5% for core defense spending on tanks, warplanes, air defense, missiles and hiring extra troops. A further 1.5% would be spent on things like roads, bridges, ports and airfields so armies can deploy more quickly, as well as preparing societies for possible attack.

Rutte had been due to table a new proposal on Friday aimed at satisfying Spain. European allies and Canada are keen to finalize the spending pledge before the summit, and not leave it open for any heated debate that might drag the meeting out. Poland and the Baltic countries — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — have already publicly committed to 5%, and Rutte has said that most allies were ready to endorse the goal.

A big question still to be answered is what time-frame countries will get to reach the new spending goals. A target date of 2032 was initially floated, but Rutte has said that Russia could be ready to launch an attack on NATO territory by 2030.

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World

Zelenskyy Says Peace Proposals to End War in Ukraine Could Be Presented to Russia within Days 

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy listens during a press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy listens during a press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP)
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Zelenskyy Says Peace Proposals to End War in Ukraine Could Be Presented to Russia within Days 

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy listens during a press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy listens during a press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says proposals negotiated with US officials on a peace deal to end his country’s nearly four-year war with Russia could be finalized within days, after which American envoys will present them to the Kremlin before further possible meetings in the United States next weekend.

Zelenskyy told reporters late Monday that a draft peace plan discussed with the US during talks in Berlin earlier in the day is “very workable.” He cautioned, however, that some key issues — notably what happens to Ukrainian territory occupied by invading Russian forces — remain unresolved.

US-led peace efforts appear to be picking up momentum. But Russian President Vladimir Putin may balk at some of the proposals thrashed out by officials from Washington, Kyiv and Western Europe, including postwar security guarantees for Ukraine.

American officials on Monday said there's consensus from Ukraine and Europe on about 90% of the US-authored peace plan. US President Donald Trump said: “I think we’re closer now than we have been, ever” to a peace settlement.

Plenty of potential pitfalls remain, however.

Zelenskyy reiterated that Kyiv rules out recognizing Moscow’s control over any part of the Donbas, an economically important region in eastern Ukraine made up of Luhansk and Donetsk. Russia's army doesn’t fully control either.

“The Americans are trying to find a compromise,” Zelenskyy said, before visiting the Netherlands on Tuesday. “They are proposing a ‘free economic zone’ (in the Donbas). And I want to stress once again: a ‘free economic zone’ does not mean under the control of the Russian Federation.”

The land issue remains one of the most difficult obstacles to a comprehensive agreement.

Putin wants all the areas in four key regions that his forces have seized, as well as the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014, to be recognized as Russian territory.

Zelenskyy warned that if Putin rejects diplomatic efforts, Ukraine expects increased Western pressure on Moscow, including tougher sanctions and additional military support for defense. Kyiv would seek enhanced air defense systems and long-range weapons if diplomacy collapses, he said.

Ukraine and the US are preparing up to five documents related to the peace framework, several of them focused on security, Zelenskyy said.

He was upbeat about the progress in the Berlin talks.

“Overall, there was a demonstration of unity,” Zelenskyy said. “It was truly positive in the sense that it reflected the unity of the US, Europe, and Ukraine.”

World

China Reiterates Demand That Japanese PM Retract Taiwan Remarks 

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi answers questions during a session of the House of Councillors budget committee in the National Diet in Tokyo on December 15, 2025. (AFP)
Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi answers questions during a session of the House of Councillors budget committee in the National Diet in Tokyo on December 15, 2025. (AFP)
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China Reiterates Demand That Japanese PM Retract Taiwan Remarks 

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi answers questions during a session of the House of Councillors budget committee in the National Diet in Tokyo on December 15, 2025. (AFP)
Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi answers questions during a session of the House of Councillors budget committee in the National Diet in Tokyo on December 15, 2025. (AFP)

China on Tuesday reiterated its demand that Japan retract Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks about Taiwan, more than a month after Takaichi said an attack on the democratically governed island could be deemed an existential threat to Japan.

"On key issues, Japan is still 'squeezing toothpaste' and 'burying nails,' attempting to obfuscate and muddle through," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said during a regular press briefing, adding that Beijing is "firmly opposed to this."

Diplomatic relations between Tokyo and Beijing have been at their lowest in years after Takaichi suggested a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.

World

Iran: IAEA Has No Right to Inspect Nuclear Sites Attacked in June 

A photo released by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) shows its chief Mohammad Eslami, and IAEA director Raphael Grossi in Tehran last month.
A photo released by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) shows its chief Mohammad Eslami, and IAEA director Raphael Grossi in Tehran last month.
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Iran: IAEA Has No Right to Inspect Nuclear Sites Attacked in June 

A photo released by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) shows its chief Mohammad Eslami, and IAEA director Raphael Grossi in Tehran last month.
A photo released by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) shows its chief Mohammad Eslami, and IAEA director Raphael Grossi in Tehran last month.

The UN atomic watchdog has no right to demand inspections of sites attacked by the United States and Israel during the June war, said head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Mohammad Eslami, stressing the need for a clear protocol to allow UN inspectors in such facilities.

Speaking to reporters in Tehran, Eslami criticized the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) call for renewed inspections of three nuclear sites hit during the 12-day war, saying Tehran had already allowed inspectors to visit undamaged sites.

On Monday, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi reiterated that Iran must allow inspectors access to the three key nuclear facilities that enrich uranium and that were hit by the US and Israel.

Speaking to RIA Novosti, Grossi said: “The agency’s activities in Iran are very limited. We are only allowed to access sites that were not hit.”

“The other three sites, Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan, are even more significant since they still contain substantial amount of nuclear material and equipment, and we need to return there,” he urged.

In another interview with Radio France International (RFI), Grossi said: “Contact with Iran remains in place. We haven’t yet been able to restore cooperation to the required level, but I believe it is critically important.”

The dialogue continues through behind-the-scenes negotiations and confidential contacts, he added.

In response to Grossi’s demands, Eslami emphasized that inspections of facilities hit during the June war require a clear and defined protocol, reported the state-run ISNA agency.

“The UN agency, which has issued no condemnation [regarding Israel and US attacks on Iran in June] and has no established guidelines, has no right to claim it intends to conduct inspections,” he added.

“Pressure exerted on us under the influence of Israel, three European countries, and the United States has no impact on Iran. It is the agency that must answer to Iran and to the world,” he stressed.

Eslami also said that all of Iran’s nuclear facilities are fully registered with and have been under IAEA supervision.

“The current situation demands accountability from the agency, not further questioning of Iran,” he said, calling on the IAEA to clarify its position, explain why no condemnation was issued, and specify what procedures it intends to follow.

Also in Tehran, AEOI spokesperson Behrouz Kamalvandi said there are currently no IAEA inspections under way, adding that inspections carried out in recent weeks were conducted with the permission of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran and in line with the law on suspending cooperation with the IAEA.

He said all of those inspections were related to industrial matters at the sites that had not been attacked in June.

“Measures must definitely be considered regarding facilities that have been attacked,” he said, stressing that the safeguards agreement does not contain provisions for wartime conditions, and therefore, an understanding must be reached on this issue.

In such circumstances, he added, security becomes the most important matter and negotiations must be conducted with a security-oriented approach.