Hegseth welcomes Baltic states' readiness to join 5% defense spending pledge

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, at a meeting at the Pentagon with his counterparts Hanno Pevkur from Estonia, Andris Spruds from Latvia and Dovile Sakalene from Lithuania, welcomed the plans of the Baltic states to join the 5% defense spending pledge as early as 2026, Report informs.

"We discussed President Trump's historic success in bringing the NATO alliance together behind the 5% defense spending pledge at the Hague Summit, which the Baltic states are on track to hit in the next year," Hegseth wrote on X.

Hegseth said: "The momentum behind a stronger and more lethal NATO alliance is high, and I thank the Baltic defense ministers for their support toward our shared objective."