4 minutes agoTrump says it will encourage Russia to attack NATO allies who do not pay their bills
Periskopi(2 years ago)
(2 years ago)Donald Trump says it will “encourage” Russia attack any NATO member state that fails to pay the bills as part of the Western military alliance. He said he had once told a NATO leader that he would not defend a nation back in its payments if attacked by Russia [...]
He said he had once told a NATO leader that he would not defend a nation back in its payments if he was attacked by Russia and would have “encouraged them to do whatever the hell they want to do.
NATO members commit to protecting every nation in the bloc under attack.
The White House called comments “terrible and uncontrolled”.
Speaking during a meeting in South Carolina on Saturday, Trump said he had made his comments to Russia during a meeting of NATO countries' leaders.
He recalled that the leader of a major <x0th nation” had presented a hypothetical situation in which he was failing to meet his financial obligations within NATO and was attacked by Moscow.
Trump said the leader had asked if the US would come to his country's aid in that scenario, which prompted him to issue a remark.
I said: “did you not pay? Are you deliquent? No, I wouldn't protect you, I would actually encourage them to do whatever they want. You have to pay”
Trump, the favourite to run again as the republican candidate in this year's US presidential election, has long been critical of NATO and what he sees as an excessive financial burden for the United States to ensure the protection of 30 other countries.
Russia began its full - scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 after Trump left office. Since then he has complained about the amount of US money sent to Ukraine, which is not a NATO member, the BBC writes.
