Foreign Affairs

NATO Descends Into Circular Firing Squad As Members Fight Over Ukraine Funding

(Screenshot/NATO/Rumble)

NATO’s top official said that many allies are not providing enough financial support to Ukraine as the U.S. prepares possible changes to its military commitments in Europe.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said that support for Ukraine is “not evenly distributed” across the alliance during a meeting with Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. His comments come as the U.S. announces steps to shift away from Europe’s reliance on American military might to uphold the alliance.

“The problem is that it [support for Ukraine] is not evenly distributed now within NATO,” Rutte said during his speech. “So there are is a limited amount of countries, including Sweden, which is really punching above its weight when it comes to the support for Ukraine and other countries like Canada and Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway, and also a couple of others.”

The war has also fueled repeated fights in Washington over how long U.S. taxpayers should continue funding Ukraine’s defense.

“Americans deserve to know ‘where their billions in aid to Ukraine went and what they’re funding there now,'” Sen. Josh Hawley said on Feb. 21, 2025, while reintroducing the Inspector General for Ukraine Act. The bill has not passed Congress.

“President Trump has made his disappointment with NATO clear, and he has consistently said that Europe must take greater responsibility for its own defense. Through his America First approach, the President has effectively restored our country’s standing on the world stage, including by securing a historic five percent defense spending pledge by NATO allies,” White House principal deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “He will always ensure that international agreements are mutually beneficial for the United States and will never allow our country to be treated unfairly.”

Impressive visit to Revinge 🇸🇪 with @SwedishPM Ulf Kristersson to see first-hand what Sweden’s Total Defence Concept is all about

In today’s security environment we need to make sure that every part of our society is prepared – and Sweden understands this very well

Thank you… pic.twitter.com/l0MALdxSgW

— Mark Rutte (@SecGenNATO) May 21, 2026

The United States remained NATO’s dominant defense spender at an estimated $980 billion in 2025, compared with $92.8 billion for the United Kingdom and $68.9 billion for France, while the smallest spenders included Montenegro at $188 million, North Macedonia at $402 million and Albania at $570 million, according to to estimates from the Atlantic Council..

NATO and the Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.

‘Simply Not Healthy’

The prime minister of Sweden agreed with the NATO secretary-general and said that other European nations need to step up and provide financial support for Ukraine rather than just verbal support.

“So I really would like more countries that speak so extremely well about Ukraine to also put the money where the mouth is,” Kristersson said during the meeting.

The Russia-Ukraine war began on Feb. 24, 2022, and has yet to conclude.

Since the Russia-Ukraine war began, nations in the European Union have provided over $230 billion in total aid, which includes military equipment and humanitarian assistance, according to the Council of the European Union and the European Council.

The United States committed more than $66.1 billion in defense articles and services to Ukraine from February 2022 through December 2025 through Presidential Drawdown Authority, the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative and Foreign Military Financing, according to Ukraine Oversight, the U.S. government’s oversight site for the Ukraine response.

Congress has committed at least $188 billion in total aid assistance to Ukraine, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

“But there also many [EU Nations] not spending enough when it comes to the support for Ukraine,” Rutte said during his speech. “This is our major proposal.”

Rutte said that NATO’s overreliance on one ally, the United States, is “simply not healthy” for the alliance. Rutte also downplayed the significance of the U.S. troop rotations cycling out of Europe.

Vice President JD Vance said a recent drawdown in Poland was “not a reduction” but a “standard delay in rotation,” according to The Associated Press and Stars and Stripes.

“The rotational forces involved in the announcements do not have an impact on NATO’s defence plans,” Rutte said.