NATO countries to mull defense spending target – Stoltenberg

NATO countries will discuss their defense spending targets in the coming months as some of them call for turning a 2% target into a minimum figure, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told the German news agency DPA, Report informs referring to Reuters.

"Some allies are strongly in favor of turning the current 2% target into a minimum," DPA quoted Stoltenberg as saying in an interview published on January 3.

Stoltenberg said that he would head the negotiations. "We will meet, we will have ministerial meetings, we will have talks in capitals," he said.

He did not say which NATO countries were calling for a more ambitious target, according to DPA.

The NATO chief said he aimed to reach an agreement no later than NATO's next regular summit, which will be in Lithuania's capital, Vilnius, on July 11-12.