MINISTERS from Nato member states were set to approve plans to buy more weapons and military equipment today.

The agreement follows a United States push to ramp up military spending.

The “capability targets” lay out plans for each of the military alliance’s 32 nations to purchase priority equipment like air and missile systems, artillery, ammunition, drones and “strategic enablers” such as air-to-air refueling, heavy air transport and logistics.

“Today we decide on the capability targets. From there, we will assess the gaps we have, not only to be able to defend ourselves today, but also three, five, seven years from now,” Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte said.

“All these investments have to be financed,” he told reporters before chairing the meeting at Nato’s Brussels headquarters. US President Donald Trump and his Nato counterparts will meet from June 24-25 to agree new military spending targets.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said that “to be an alliance, you’ve got to be more than flags. You got to be more than conferences. You need to keep combat ready capabilities.”

Under the plans, Nato would aim to have up to 300,000 troops ready to move to its eastern flank within 30 days, although experts suggest the allies would struggle to muster those kinds of numbers.