US Defence Secretary discusses NATO defence spending with Baltic states

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth hosted the defence ministers of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania at the Pentagon on July 26, praising their commitment to NATO's defence spending targets and the strengthening of the alliance.

According to a statement shared by Hegseth on X, the meeting included Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur, Latvian Defence Minister Andris Sprūds, and Lithuanian Defence Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas Sakalienė, Caliber.Az reports.

Yesterday, we welcomed Minister Pevkur from Estonia, Minister Sprüds from Latvia, and Minister Sakaliené from Lithuania to the Pentagon.

We discussed President Trump's historic success in bringing the NATO alliance together behind the 5% defense spending pledge at the Hague… pic.twitter.com/uXBj8tmiO1

— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) July 26, 2025

The talks focused on the outcomes of the recent NATO summit in The Hague, where President Donald Trump secured broad support for a new pledge by member states to allocate at least 5 per cent of GDP toward defence spending. Hegseth noted that the Baltic states are expected to reach that target within the next year.

The momentum behind a stronger and more lethal NATO alliance is high, and I thank the Baltic defense ministers for their support toward our shared objective,” Hegseth wrote.

By Sabina Mammadli