Nato agrees to ramp up defence spending and says collective security is 'ironclad'

Nato leaders meeting in The Hague have agreed to ramp up defence spending to 5% of their countries' economic output by 2025, following months of pressure from US President Donald Trump.

In a statement they said they were united against "profound security threats and challenges, in particular the long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security and the persistent threat of terrorism".

However, there was no mention of Russian aggression in its war in Ukraine, which there had been a year ago.

Nato leaders did reaffirm their "ironclad commitment to collective defence" - the Article Five mutual security guarantee if any one member comes under attack.

"No-one should doubt our capacity or determination should our security be challenged," said Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte. "This is a stronger, fairer and more lethal alliance that our leaders have begun to build".

The US president had earlier appeared to raise questions about the security guarantee, referring to "various definitions of Article Five". But Trump said after the summit: "I stand with [Article Five], that's why I'm here."

The Hague summit has been described by several leaders as historic, and Rutte said decisions made on Wednesday would include continued support for Ukraine while pushing for peace.

The commitment to raise defence spending over 10 years involves at least 3.5% of each member state's GDP on core defence expenditure by 2035, plus up to 1.5% on a broadly defined series of investments loosely connected to security infrastructure.