US demands allies cut NATO overseas missions and not invite Ukraine to Ankara summit - media
Kyiv • UNN
The US is pressuring NATO to cut overseas missions, including operations in Iraq and Kosovo. Washington is also lobbying to prevent Ukraine and Indo-Pacific partners from participating in the Alliance summit in Ankara.
The United States is demanding that NATO allies reduce overseas missions and not invite Ukraine and other partners to the Alliance summit in Ankara. Four diplomats to NATO told Politico, UNN reports.
Details
According to four diplomats who spoke to the media, the US under Donald Trump is pressuring NATO to cut many foreign policy initiatives, including ending a key alliance mission in Iraq.
In recent months, the US has also lobbied to scale back NATO's peacekeeping operation in Kosovo and prevent the formal participation of Ukraine and Indo-Pacific allies in the alliance's annual summit in Ankara in July.
The publication notes that these efforts reflect the White House's desire to view NATO as a purely Euro-Atlantic defense pact and to abandon years of expansion into crisis management, global partnerships, and values-based initiatives that have long irritated the US president and his MAGA movement supporters.
As part of Washington's efforts, NATO will reduce so-called "out-of-area activities" that go beyond the alliance's core tasks of defense and deterrence. Domestically, this effort has been dubbed a "return to factory settings," said four diplomats who were granted anonymity to freely discuss this delicate internal issue.
The media notes that these efforts could lead to a rapid reduction in NATO's activities in former combat zones, as well as the exclusion of capitals, including Kyiv and Canberra, from official discussions this summer.
The White House declined to comment publicly on NATO partnership programs and global operations when contacted by Politico.
The new details emerged after US Deputy Pentagon Chief Elbridge Colby recently outlined the administration's position underlying what he called NATO 3.0.
"Not every mission can be a priority. Not every opportunity can be improved to the limit," Colby told alliance defense ministers last week, while reaffirming that the US remains committed to European security. "The measure of seriousness is whether European forces can fight, sustain, and win in scenarios that are most important to the defense of the alliance."
The article notes that the US campaign is causing a backlash from some allies.
Abandoning the alliance's overseas initiatives is "the wrong approach," said one of the four diplomats. "Partnership is crucial for deterrence and defense."
Since Trump's return to the White House last year, he has sharply cut US commitments abroad, withdrawn NATO troops and personnel from Europe, and handed over some of the alliance's top command to Europeans, seeking to reorient his foreign policy toward "key aspects of national security."