Spending 2% of GDP on defence is 'not enough,' Estonian minister says

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (L) and Ukrainian Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov speak during a press conference on the sidelines of the meeting of NATO Ministers of Defence at NATO Headquarters. -/NATO/dpa

Spending the NATO target of 2% of national gross domestic product (GDP) on defence is "not enough," Estonia's defence minister told reporters in Brussels on Friday.

"Two per cent is not enough" Hanno Pevkur said, arriving for the second day of talks with fellow NATO defence ministers. "We need to go further from here."

He said Estonia proposes that upwards of 2.5% should be the target, while the Baltic nation itself is investing 3.4% this year and more than 3% next year.

"When we look also how much Russia is investing at the moment to defence this year - close to 9% of their GDP - then we all understand that when we put in comparison our 2% in NATO, or 3-3.5% in Baltic states and Poland, then still we need to invest more," Pevkur said.