"The increase in defense spending by European countries will allow the United States to focus on its priority Indo-Pacific region."

Axar.az reports that this was said by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The Pentagon chief added that NATO members cannot be considered an unbreakable alliance if they do not participate equally in the alliance.

"We believe that our NATO allies in Europe should maximize their comparative advantage on the continent. Thanks to US President Donald Trump, they are strengthening their participation in the alliance. If our allies shared this burden with us, we could focus more on the Indo-Pacific region, which is our priority theater of war."

Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed confidence that all NATO member states would agree to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP over the next decade.