German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said his country is prepared to move toward spending 5% of its economic output on defense, backing a goal pushed by US President Donald Trump for NATO members and underscoring the new Berlin government’s more aggressive stance on the military.

Boosting defence spending is a task for all NATO members willing to close gaps with allies, ministers from historic low-spenders Italy and Germany said on Friday, following a round of talks with European counterparts.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius on Thursday pushed back against calls to raise NATO members' defence spending target to 5% of their economic output. At a meeting in Berlin with his British counterpart John Healey on Thursday,