NATO Proposes Huge 50% Increase in Number of Troops: Report

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Source: Newsweek

Published May 29, 2025 at 8:23 AM EDT | Updated May 29, 2025 at 10:02 AM EDT


NATO will raise its target for how many troops its member states will need to provide for the alliance by up to 50 percent, according to a new report, ahead of crunch-time decisions on what members must do to prepare for a possible conflict with Russia. The 32 allies' current target of about 80 brigades would increase to between 120 and 130, an unnamed official has told Reuters.

The military bloc will ask Germany next week to contribute an additional seven brigades—amounting to roughly 40,000 troops—to bolster the alliance's collective defense capabilities, Reuters reported, citing three sources familiar with the discussions. Newsweek has reached out to the German government and NATO for comment via email.

Why It Matters

NATO officials have been ringing alarm bells increasingly louder over how much of a threat Russia will pose to the alliance in the next few years, particularly after inking a possible ceasefire deal in Ukraine that would free up hundreds of thousands of soldiers bogged down along the frontlines.

Assessments vary, but one judgment from Denmark's Defense Intelligence Service, published in February, said it believed Russia would be able to wage a "large-scale war" against NATO in the next five years if the U.S. declines to be involved. Some observers insist Moscow could be prepared to launch more limited assaults on NATO soil as little as six months after the end of the war in Ukraine.


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