US defence chief Pete Hegseth on Thursday pushed NATO to agree a deal on increasing military spending that could satisfy President Donald Trump at a summit this month.

The volatile US leader has demanded that alliance members boost defence budgets to five percent of their GDP at the June 24-25 meeting in the Netherlands.

NATO chief Mark Rutte has put forward a compromise agreement for 3.5 percent of GDP on core military spending by 2032, and 1.5 percent on broader security-related areas such as infrastructure.

Several diplomats say Rutte looks on track to secure the deal for the summit in The Hague as NATO grapples with the threat from Russia after more than three years of war in Ukraine.

But a few allies are still hesitant about committing to such levels of spending.

"The reason I'm

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