U.S. President Donald Trump said that the United States has disproportionately funded NATO for years, while allies were not ready to support Washington in return. He said this on the sidelines of the NATO summit during a joint conversation with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, reports UNN.
Details
According to Trump, the U.S. spent over a trillion dollars to protect European allies from Russia, but when Washington asked them for help, it was refused.
We have spent over a trillion dollars recently to protect these countries from Russia. It has nothing directly to do with us — we are separated by an ocean. But when we needed help, Great Britain, Germany, and France did not want to help. Only some very small countries were ready to do so, because they are the most vulnerable
He also repeated his long-standing criticism of the distribution of the financial burden within the Alliance.
We pay disproportionately much. There was a time when we actually funded NATO 100%, while many countries paid nothing at all. This is unfair. We protect them, but they are not with us when we need help
Despite criticizing allies, Trump spoke positively about NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
Despite the fact that I am very dissatisfied with the situation in NATO, I want to say that he is a great leader. You are lucky that he leads the Alliance