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Lavrov Claims NATO Defense Spending Surge Could Trigger Alliance Collapse

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Dariia Mykhailenko
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Lavrov Claims NATO Defense Spending Surge Could Trigger Alliance Collapse
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks on the second day of the diplomatic forum in Antalya, Türkiye on April 12, 2025. (Source: Getty Images)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that the sharp increase in defense spending by NATO countries will have catastrophic consequences for the Alliance itself.

He made this remark following the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, according to Russian state media TASS on June 30 .

Commenting on Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski's statement that Russia is headed for collapse due to its growing military expenditures, Lavrov responded: "Perhaps, as a forecaster, he foresees that the catastrophic, in my view, increase in NATO countries' budgets will also lead to the collapse of this organization."

Lavrov reminded that Russian President Vladimir Putin recently announced plans to reduce military spending. According to Lavrov, these expenses have now reached a record high since the Soviet era—13.5 trillion rubles, or 6.3% of the country's GDP.

“Russia, as President Putin said in Minsk after the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, intends to reduce military spending and be guided by common sense—unlike NATO member states, including Sikorski, who react to imaginary threats,” Lavrov emphasized.

According to TASS, the final communiqué of the NATO summit held in The Hague on June 24–25, Alliance members agreed to gradually increase defense spending to 5% of GDP. By 2035, member states committed to allocating at least 3.5% of GDP for military needs and up to 1.5% for protecting critical infrastructure, innovation, and strengthening the defense industry.

Earlier, Russia planed to demand that Ukraine cease the training of its military personnel in Western countries as part of any conditions for ending the war.

Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large Rodion said that the participation or complicity of other countries in the war was a key issue that needed to be stopped in all forms, including the supply of weapons and the training of Ukrainian militants.

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