**NATO Chief Defends German Chancellor**
The Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, has spoken out in defense of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. He says that Scholz’s criticism of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is unfair.
Rutte told a German news agency that Scholz has done a good job in supporting Ukraine. Germany has provided significant military aid to Ukraine, ranking second only to the United States. Rutte thinks Kyiv should be grateful for this support.
However, there is still disagreement between Ukraine and Germany over the use of certain missiles. Ukraine wants to use German-made Taurus long-range missiles against Russian targets, but Scholz has refused to allow this.
**Trump’s Defense Plans**
The Secretary General also spoke about his expectations for the incoming U.S. president, Donald Trump. He thinks that Trump will push for higher defense spending among NATO countries. In fact, some European countries are still below the 2% target, while Poland plans to invest 4.7% of its GDP in defense next year.
Trump has hinted at reducing aid for Ukraine and increasing the defense spending benchmark to 5% of GDP. This could be a significant change, but it’s not clear yet what this will mean for Ukraine.
**Other News**
There have been other developments over the past few days:
* A large-scale fire broke out at a Shahed drone warehouse in Russia, destroying parts worth $16 million.
* North Korea is preparing to send additional troops and weapons to aid Russia in its war against Ukraine.
* BMW discovered that it had transferred cars to Russia without proper authorization.
* The Ukrainian Legion has received over 1,000 applications from people who want to join the fight against Russia.
These are just a few of the many stories unfolding in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.