Pentagon chief says NATO allies can’t have ‘reliance’ on US

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Thursday told NATO allies they could not depend solely on Washington for defence, as he urged them to agree a spending deal of five percent of GDP.

“Our message is going to continue to be clear. It’s deterrence and peace through strength, but it can’t be reliance. It cannot and will not be reliance on America in a world of a lot of threats,” Hegseth said at a meeting with NATO counterparts in Brussels.