Securing an end to the fighting in Ukraine must take place with Kyiv's full involvement and come with more defense spending by regional countries to avoid any future Russian aggression, according to Lithuania's president.

The return of Trump will once again put European defense spending levels at the center of the United States’ approach to NATO. Over the past several years, NATO members have boosted investments, with about 20 out of 32 members hitting the alliance’s benchmark of spending 2% of gross domestic product on defense.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that NATO and the European Union should increase defense spending. This is due to the threat from the Russian shadow navy, Tagesschau reports. According to Scholz, European NATO and EU countries should continue to increase their defense spending.

Lithuania and Estonia have become the first NATO members to meet U.S. President Donald Trump's call to raise defense spending to more than 5% of GDP, Financial Times reported on Jan. 27. Trump reiterated his demand on Jan.