NATO members who fail to meet the 2% defense spending threshold are playing “Russian roulette,” Grant Shapps has said

NATO members not spending 2% of their GDP on defense are playing “Russian roulette” with the West’s future, UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps has claimed.   

In an article for The Telegraph published on Wednesday, Shapps said members of the US-led bloc must accept the West is now in a “pre-war” world and therefore need to raise their military expenditure.  

Many NATO states have for years struggled to reach an agreed threshold of 2% of GDP for defense spending, but the process gained momentum after the start of the Ukraine crisis in 2014 and especially after the launch of Russia’s military operation in 2022.  

“We must look beyond that target to shore up our defenses. Yet some nations are still failing to meet even the 2%. That cannot continue. We can’t afford to play Russian roulette with our future,” Shapps wrote.  

Only 11 of NATO’s 32 countries met the bloc’s guideline last year. France and Germany were among those which spent less on defense, according to an annual report, though Paris and Berlin recently pledged they will meet targets this year. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg claimed in February that 18 members are on track this year to meet the 2% target.

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