By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatens to derail a NATO summit that Secretary General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival.

Spain reached a deal with NATO to be excluded from a 5% of GDP defense spending target, days before the military alliance's leaders will gather at a summit, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on Sunday.

NATO allies agreed over the weekend to set a defense spending target of five percent of GDP, satisfying one of Trump’s top demands. And NATO chief MARK RUTTE looked to keep the discussion The summit is just slated to include one joint meeting of the leaders and produce a “very concise and crisp” statement in lieu of past summits’ detailed communiqués.