The defense ministers of Europe’s five top military spenders say they intend to continue increasing their investments in defense but described President-elect Donald Trump’s challenge for them to raise spending to 5% of their overall economic output as extremely difficult.

From left: Luke Pollard, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the ... in the village of Helenow, near Warsaw, Poland, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. Credit: AP/Czarek Sokolowski Pistorius told reporters in Kyiv that the Warsaw meeting didn’t discuss Macron ...

Defence Ministers from Poland, Germany, France, Italy and the UK met in Warsaw on Monday to discuss European security matters in a new five-way format established in the wake of Donald Trump's US presidential election win.

From left: Luke Pollard, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of ... in the village of Helenow, near Warsaw, Poland, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Defense ministers from Poland Germany France Britain and Italy so-called the European Five E5 gathered in Poland on Monday for a meeting to tal

Poland, which borders both Russia and Ukraine, aims to spend 4.7 percent of its GDP on defense this year — by far the highest of any NATO member. The United Kingdom, France and Germany spend nearer to 2 percent — the current NATO target — while Italy languishes at 1.49 percent.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte warned on Thursday that a Russian victory over Ukraine would undermine the dissuasive force of the world’s biggest military alliance and that its cred