"I welcome Estonia's significant contribution to NATO's high readiness forces and your efforts to further improve readiness," Rutte said during a press conference with Prime Minister Kristen Michal (Reform).

"By spending over 3 percent of your GDP on defense, Estonia is truly leading by example. And I know you intend to invest even more in our shared security in the coming years. Investing more is something all Allies will need to do to meet our capability targets. This is essential for us in order to continue to deter and defend against the challenges we face. Here in Estonia, you know how close some of those challenges can be."

The NATO secretary general also praised Estonia's strong support for Ukraine. He said this was important as "difficult winter" is approaching and Russia has targeted the country's infrastructure.

Michal urged other countries to raise their defense spending to 2.5 percent of GDP. This should be the minimum spending level to meet NATO's defense plans, he stressed.

"The current mandatory level of defense expenditure is 2 percent of GDP which no longer corresponds to the reality of today's security situation. All Allies should spend at least 2.5 percent on defense. So at The Hague [NATO] summit next year at the latest, we need to make this our common goal," the prime minister told the assembled media. "This is an additional signal to our adversaries and to our allies that our determination should not be put to the test."

He encouraged other countries to allocate 0.25 percent of GDP to supporting Ukraine, as Estonia has done.

Rutte said officials from South Korea will brief the alliance next week on North Korea's suspected activities in Ukraine. He said he could not confirm if its forces were on the ground in Ukraine.

During his two-day visit, Rutte will also meet with President Alar Karis and Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna (Eesti 200) to discuss strengthening the alliance's defense capabilities.

Rutte took over as head of the alliance earlier this month.

Minister: Increased defence spending necessary for strong alliance

Rutte met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna (Eesti 200) on Wednesday morning and the pair discussed support for Ukraine and its NATO membership.

Tsahkna, like Michal the day before, said defense spending must rise.

"For NATO to be able to successfully meet all current and future challenges and ensure peace, it is crucial to reinforce the deterrence and defense posture of Allies and close existing capability gaps as quickly as possible," he said. "At the summit in The Hague next year, we need to agree on a new level of defense spending, which should be at least 2.5 percent of GDP."

Estonia also wants NATO to boost its partnership with the European Union, and Asian and Pacific partners.

"Euro-Atlantic security is closely linked to security in the Indo-Pacific. Cooperation between countries that share common values ensures that we can successfully meet shared threats and challenges," Tsahkna said.

This article was updated to add comments from Margus Tsahkna.

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