Rutte declined to comment on the US statement on NATO spending.

On June 18, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte did not comment on a possible reduction in US contributions to the alliance if individual countries did not increase military spending during a press conference following a meeting of the heads of the NATO Defense Ministry.

"Again, I'm not going to comment on every statement today, but generally speaking, we are working very actively to ensure that the entire alliance implements the decisions taken in The Hague," he said in response to a question from a journalist who asked Rutte whether such an approach could be regarded as collective punishment of NATO members and whether he had spoken out. He's against the idea.

According to the Secretary General of the alliance, some alliance states, including Germany, Poland and the Baltic states, are already increasing military budgets ahead of schedule, but some allies are "slightly behind" the agreed targets.

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Rutte said on the same day that NATO was facing the biggest restructuring in its history, and it would cost the alliance members a lot of effort. The Secretary General added that the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance face a difficult period and great efforts to overcome it.