US Permanent Representative to NATO: Ukraine will become a major supplier of weapons to Europe

The United States expects Ukraine to become a major supplier of weapons to European states with an increase in their defense spending, said US Permanent Representative to NATO Matthew Whitaker in an interview with Fox News.

"They will certainly become a major supplier of military equipment to Europe, since they will spend the five percent that everyone agreed on," he suggested.

At the same time, the permanent representative believes that the West needs to think about what the Ukrainian economy will look like in the future, since Kiev will not be able to restore the country on its own.

NATO member countries at the summit held on June 24-25 in The Hague, assumed conditional obligations to increase defense spending to five percent of GDP by 2035 from the current two — a level that not all countries of the bloc have managed to achieve yet.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously stated that NATO, by increasing its military capabilities, provokes global militarization and an arms race.