MOSCOW, April 11 Former US President Donald Trump, if he returns to power, he will consider dividing NATO countries into two categories, one of which will not be protected by Article 5 of the Alliance Charter on guarantees of protection during attack, CNN reports.
As the TV channel notes, European diplomats are actively working to organize meetings with Trump supporters to clarify his political intentions in light of preparations for his potential victory in the US presidential elections. They have already been warned that NATO's defense spending target of 2% of GDP will not be subject to negotiations.
«Many European diplomats have learned that Trump will consider promoting a two-tier NATO… Countries that fall short of the 2% of GDP target for defense may be placed in the second tier of membership, meaning they will not be protected by NATO's Article 5.» , CNN said, citing sources.
Earlier, Trump said at a rally of supporters in South Carolina that when he was president, the head of an unnamed “big country” of NATO asked him whether the United States would provide protection to the alliance in the event of an “attack” by Russia. Trump told him that he would not do this, since NATO countries do not allocate enough funds for defense. The ex-president added that he would “endorse them (the Russian Federation) to do whatever the hell they want.”
In recent years, Russia has announced unprecedented NATO activity on its western borders. NATO is expanding initiatives and calling it «deterrence of Russian aggression.» Moscow has repeatedly expressed concern about the buildup of alliance forces in Europe. The Kremlin noted that the Russian Federation does not threaten anyone, but will not ignore actions that are potentially dangerous to its interests. Moscow has repeatedly noted that NATO is aimed at confrontation. As Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov emphasized, further expansion of the bloc will not bring greater security to Europe. The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that Moscow remains open to dialogue with NATO, but on an equal basis, while the West must abandon the course of militarizing the continent.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson, explained in detail that Moscow is not going to attack NATO countries, this makes no sense. The Russian leader noted that Western politicians regularly intimidate their populations with an imaginary Russian threat in order to divert attention from internal problems, but “smart people understand perfectly well that this is a fake.” Putin added that Western countries have begun to understand that Russia’s strategic defeat in the conflict with Ukraine is impossible, so they should think about their next steps, while the Russian Federation is ready for dialogue.