The U.S. and President Donald Trump are totally committed to NATO, the military alliance’s chief said on Tuesday, looking to reassure allies following concerns that Washington could abandon the Western military bloc due to frustration over uneven defense spending.
“There is total commitment by the U.S. president and the U.S. senior leadership to NATO,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Tuesday morning, as the summit kicked off in The Hague.
“However, it comes with an expectation. And the expectation is that we will finally deal with this huge irritant, which is that we are not spending enough as Europeans and Canadians,” Rutte told a public forum at the summit.
“They want us to equalize with what the U.S. is spending,” he added, saying it was not only fair to do so, but also necessary amid the continuing threat from Russia.
Tensions between Washington, Canadian and European allies’ defense spending have overshadowed NATO for a number of years, however ahead of this summit, members agreed to increase defense spending to 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035.
