Germany will dramatically increase defense spending — not to appease U.S. President Donald Trump but to counter the threat from Moscow, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Tuesday.

Axar.az informs, citing Politico, “We will decide to invest significantly more in our security,” Merz told the Bundestag ahead of the NATO leaders' summit in The Hague. “Not to do the United States a favor — but because Russia actively threatens the freedom of the entire Euro-Atlantic area.”

A day before the speech, Berlin confirmed it would raise military spending to 3.5 percent of gross domestic product by 2029 — Germany’s most ambitious rearmament effort since the end of the Cold War.

“[Russian leader Vladimir] Putin only understands the language of power,” Merz said, citing intensified Russian strikes on Ukraine and failed ceasefire diplomacy. He reaffirmed support for new EU sanctions targeting Moscow’s shadow oil fleet and pledged Germany’s commitment to NATO’s eastern flank, referencing the deployment of German forces to Lithuania.

Following the summit, Merz will travel to Brussels for a meeting of EU leaders to advocate for streamlined defense procurement and regulatory reform. “Security,” he told lawmakers, “is the condition for freedom, for prosperity and for peace — and we must be strong from within, and outward.”

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