NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said alliance members have reached the limit of how quickly they can absorb increased defense spending, despite a sharp rise in military budgets.

Axar.az reports that Rutte made the remarks ahead of the 2026 NATO Summit in Ankara.

Rutte said Canada and European NATO allies are expected to spend an additional $250 billion on defense in 2025 and 2026, but warned that industrial and personnel constraints are slowing implementation.

“We have reached the max in terms of absorption capacity,” Rutte said. “There is a limit to what you can spend extra in one or two years in terms of recruiting the men and women in uniform and ensuring that the defense industrial base can increase production.”

He added that although the defense industry is expanding output, it cannot rapidly scale up production within such a short period.