THE defence ministers of Europe’s five top military spenders said on Monday that meeting United States President-elect Donald Trump’s demand for them to raise spending to 5 per cent of their overall economic output was complicated.

The ministers with responsibility for the military in Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Poland came together near Warsaw for a meeting in a new format that they established after Mr Trump was re-elected last year. 

The five are seeking ways to maintain their support for Ukraine as US policy is expected to shift when Mr Trump takes power. 

They also discussed how to strengthen Ukraine’s own weapons production capacity.

The German minister, Boris Pistorius, said they all support a just peace for Ukraine, one in which Kiev has a say over its fate. 

There are concerns in Europe that Mr Trump could push Ukraine to make unacceptable concessions to Russia.

The ministers also addressed questions of military spending after Mr Trump recently called for Nato allies to increase their spending to 5 per cent of gross domestic product, a level that no Nato member has reached — not even Poland, which is the closest, spending more than 4 per cent.

Several of the ministers said that focusing on the number as a percentage isn’t enough.

“I just think that a static debate about percentages doesn’t really help us if it doesn’t ultimately lead to the implementation of what Nato has agreed upon together, what the goals must be,” Mr Pistorius said at a joint press conference. 

Mr Pistorius added that for Germany to invest 5 per cent on the military would mean spending a little more than 40 per cent of its entire national budget on the military. “I think that would put an end to the debate very quickly,” he said.

His Italian counterpart, Guido Crosetto, said: “Increasing military spending at a time of economic crisis is more complicated than at other times.”