Angela Merkel last night refused to concede to US demands to raise defence spending.

Germany’s chancellor said she was in no hurry to meet Nato targets because there were other issues to deal with.

She said her country was ‘conscious of its responsibility’ and would stick to the long-term aim of raising defence spending to 2 per cent of national income by 2024.

Angela Merkel last night refused to concede to US demands to raise defence spending

But she said there were other issues that were important for global security as well as spending more on arms.

She said: ‘We must do more here, no question, but the matters of development aid and crisis prevention are also important.’

EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker yesterday said Europe must not cave in to the US demands to raise military spending.

The European Commission president argued that development and humanitarian aid could also count as security – and said he was against being ‘pushed into this’.

In a speech on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, the former prime minister of Luxembourg said he did not like the US ‘narrowing down this concept of security to the military’.

His comments came after US defence secretary Jim ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis issued an ultimatum to the Nato alliance to either spend more on defence or risk losing Washington’s support.

Yesterday General Mattis repeated to delegates at the security conference that it was only fair that other Nato countries carry a fair share of the burden to ‘defend our freedoms’.

He said Donald Trump fully supported Nato and added: ‘American security is permanently tied to the security of Europe’. He said the transatlantic bond remained the ‘strongest bulwark’ against instability and violence.

Also in Munich, Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said that Gen Mattis had been ‘uncompromising’ on spending and he agreed with him that other countries should step up.

Europe must not cave in to US demands to raise military spending, EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker has said

Speaking about their bilateral meeting, he said in a briefing: ‘We got off to the strongest possible start, stronger than I remember. I am delighted by the commitment that they’ve shown to the Nato alliance. General Mattis said he wanted the special relationship to be more dynamic.’

In response to Gen Mattis’s ultimatum to Nato countries, on Thursday, Mr Juncker said: ‘It has been the American message for many, many years. I am very much against letting ourselves be pushed into this.’

He said he knew Germany would no longer have a budget surplus if it increased defence spending from 1.22 per cent.

‘I don’t like our American friends narrowing down this concept of security to the military,’ he said, arguing it would be sensible to look at a ‘modern stability policy’ made up of several components.

He added: ‘If you look at what Europe is doing in defence, plus development aid, plus humanitarian aid, the comparison with the United States looks rather different.’