NATO countries are considering the most far-reaching revision of military planning in two decades. The Alliance may focus its main forces and resources on the defense of Europe against potential Russian aggression, reducing the requirements for conducting military operations outside its own territory.
This is reported by Politico with reference to four NATO diplomats familiar with the draft of the new planning document.
According to the publication, the 32 member states of the Alliance have begun negotiations on revising the requirements for military capabilities. These requirements determine what troops, weapons and equipment allies must have ready to perform joint defense tasks.
The main change provides for abandoning the mandatory readiness to simultaneously fight a large-scale war in Europe and provide several smaller military missions in other regions of the world.
Currently, NATO assumes the need to have enough forces to perform both tasks. Instead, the new approach may allow states to plan military resources for one of these scenarios, depending on the identified priorities.
In fact, this is about changing the principle of allocating limited defense resources between the protection of the Alliance's territory and operations outside it.
The negotiations are at an early stage, and there is no final decision yet. According to Politico, allies hope to agree on new political guidelines by February 2027. They will become the basis for further identification of NATO's military needs by 2029.
Defense of Europe becomes the top priority
The revision of planning is linked to the growing Russian military threat and the need to prepare European states for a possible large-scale conflict.
The initiative is also backed by Washington's position, which calls on allies to focus on defending their own territory and assume a greater share of responsibility for European security.
At the same time, the proposal does not mean the automatic winding down of current NATO operations, particularly in Kosovo and Iraq. The Alliance may continue such missions, but their resourcing will no longer necessarily be taken into account simultaneously with preparing for a major war in Europe.
Differences between allies may complicate the approval of the document. Some countries advocate maximum concentration of resources on deterring Russia, while others consider it important to preserve NATO's ability to respond to crises outside Europe.
NATO is already increasing defense spending
According to the official NATO defense planning procedure, political guidelines determine the scope of future operations and the required military capabilities. On their basis, specific tasks are formed for member states regarding the development of armed forces and arms procurement.
In June 2025, the defense ministers of the Alliance countries already agreed on new targets for the development of military capabilities. Among the priorities are strengthening air and missile defense, procurement of long-range systems, development of logistics, and the formation of large ground formations.
The same year, at the summit in The Hague, allies agreed to increase defense and security-related spending to 5% of GDP by 2035. Of this, at least 3.5% of GDP should be spent directly on military needs.
The new revision of military planning will determine on which forces and weapons allies will direct additional defense resources. The priority of preparing for confrontation with Russia may affect long-term procurement programs, the development of the defense industry, and the deployment of troops in Europe.
At the same time, the specific allocation of resources will depend on the final agreements among NATO states, which have yet to be agreed upon.
Based on materials from: Politico, NATO – defence planning process, NATO – The Hague Summit Declaration
