German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius signaled Tuesday that Berlin could gradually move toward spending 5 percent of GDP on defense, a huge leap from the current budget of just over 2 percent.

Speaking ahead of the EU Foreign Affairs Council for Defence, Pistorius laid out a gradual path for increasing Germany’s defense budget by 0.2 percentage points annually over the next five to seven years.

“It’s not about 5 percent in one year,” he told reporters. “The most important thing is to start — and to fulfill the NATO requirements.”

Pistorius also said Germany “won’t be able to” meet NATO capability goals with a defense budget of 3 percent of GDP, opening the door to a higher spending level if required.

His comments follow remarks by Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul last Thursday, in which he backed U.S. President Donald Trump’s push for NATO members to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP from the existing 2 percent target.

“We will follow him in this respect,” Wadephul said in Antalya, Turkey after a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has pledged to make the Bundeswehr the strongest conventional army in Europe.

EU defense ministers meeting in Brussels Tuesday are expected to discuss continued military support for Ukraine and ways to strengthen European defense capabilities, including joint procurement and industrial ramp-up.