Admiral Rob Bauer said that NATO countries should increase defense spending to 3% of GDP. He also noted that Russia's ground forces have increased in number but decreased in quality compared to 2022.

The head of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, said that NATO countries need to spend about 3% of their GDP on defense. Meanwhile, businesses should prepare to work in wartime conditions. Bauer said this during an event at the European Policy Center, UNN reports with reference to Voice of America.

The total percentage needed to make the new plans feasible is much closer to 3% of GDP than to 2%

— Bauer said.

Earlier, NATO estimated that 24 out of 32 member states will spend at least the recommended 2% of their GDP on defense in 2024, amid the growing threat from Russia, which has led to a sharp increase in allied defense spending.

"I expect that under the new administration of (President Donald) Trump (in the United States), there will be a much more intense discussion about how much more Europe and Canada should spend, and that's a healthy and reasonable discussion," the admiral added.

Addendum

Also , the chairman of NATO's Military Committee said that Russia's ground forces are now larger than during Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but their quality has declined since then.