LINCOLN- Speaking from the site of this year’s NATO Summit, Sen. Pete Ricketts called for the member countries to fulfill their defense spending commitments. Ricketts, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, was part of a bipartisan congressional delegation attending the summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

The delegation is being led by U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Thom Tillis, co-chairs of the Senate NATO Observer Group. The delegation visited the U.S. Army Base in Pabrade, Lithuania, and spoke at an afternoon press conference. They were also slated to meet with NATO leaders during the trip. During the press conference, Ricketts congratulated the European members of the alliance for their quick response to Ukraine following the Russian invasion.

But he also called for all NATO members to fulfill their pledges to commit 2% of their gross domestic product to defense spending. He noted that members had agreed to that level of spending in 2014 but, as of last year, only seven members had done so. On Friday, Ricketts and 34 Senate colleagues sent a letter urging President Joe Biden to push for a “more concrete level of commitment” by NATO members.

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