Sikorski also told reporters that Trump intends to attend the upcoming NATO summit in The Hague in June.
"We’re pleased the new US administration recognizes that allies are assets, not liabilities, just as we supported the United States under Article 5 after 9/11,” Sikorski told reporters, referring to NATO’s only previous invocation of collective defense.
On Thursday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sought to calm European concerns that Washington might scale back its commitment to NATO or even quit the alliance, calling such fears "unwarranted."
Trump’s repeated criticisms of what he calls "European freeloading" had caused concern, but Sikorski said that the United States remains "fully committed" to NATO.
The minister added that allies have doubled their defense spending in "hard cash" since Trump's first term and sees that as a positive indicator for transatlantic security.
NATO defense spending
Responding to questions about reported calls for raising the defense spending target to 5 percent of GDP, Sikorski said he had not heard such a figure "in the closed-door session."
He added that if allies upped spending to 3.5 percent of GDP—roughly Washington’s level—they would add a further USD 450 billion annually to defense.
If allied defense spending matched Poland's projected 4.7 percent of GDP in 2025, he said it would reach USD 2 trillion.
Twenty-three NATO members already meet or exceed the alliance's current 2-percent target, with states bordering Russia aiming for or surpassing 3 percent.
Poland now spends a higher proportion of GDP on defense than any other NATO member, including the United States, data show.
Last year, Poland's defense spending reached 4.1 percent of GDP, according to NATO estimates.
President Andrzej Duda in January signed the country's budget for 2025, which expects defense spending to reach 4.7 percent of GDP this year.
Duda last month issued a special letter to the leaders of all NATO member states, asking them to increase defense spending to at least 3 percent of GDP.
(jh/gs)
Source: PAP