Italian Defense Minister Guido Crozetto told parliament in Rome on Wednesday that Italy’s military budget is set to be cut this year, pushing the country further away from NATO’s 2% of GDP target even by 2028.

Italy’s defense spending has fallen steadily from 1.59 percent of GDP in 2020 to 1.46 percent in 2023 and is likely to fall again this year, Guido Crosetto said during a question-and-answer session in the lower house of the legislature.

“This is not news that pleases me,” he added.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, European NATO members are under pressure to boost their defense capabilities and have come under renewed criticism from former US President and current re-election candidate Donald Trump for insufficient contributions to the military alliance’s budget.

At a 2014 summit, NATO leaders agreed that their countries should move towards a military spending target of at least 2% of GDP within a decade, but Italy’s previous government, led by Mario Draghi, delayed that target by four years.

In November, Minister Crosetto told parliament that even the less ambitious 2028 target was “difficult”.

Italy faces tight budget constraints, being the second most indebted country in the eurozone after Greece.

However, Crozetto on Wednesday reiterated his commitment to further support Ukraine in its war against Russian aggression after Prime Minister Georgia Maloney signed a 10-year security deal with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi in Kyiv last week.

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