The leaders gathered on Wednesday said they were going to help Ukraine “on the irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership” – the term was the subject of intense negotiations in recent weeks, with President Biden the main opponent. . The use of the contract is “irrevocable.”
The four countries also announced on Wednesday that F-16 fighter jets donated to Ukraine will become operational later this summer. And coalition leaders called on China to be a “decisive supporter” of Russia in the conflict in Ukraine, its toughest language yet toward Beijing.
However, throughout the battle to strengthen the alliance, Trump’s image was taking a toll on the Washington convention centre, where the summit is being held. EU leaders quietly wonder whether it is ideal for a US president to pursue a transatlantic program – a bipartisan consistent of US foreign policy from World War II until Trump’s arrival in the white space in 2017.
“If we elect him a second time, I think from the perspective of Europeans, it will be exceptionally telling about the direction of our journey in the United States,” said Andrea Kendall-Taylor, director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Middle East. Used to be.” Consider the ancient American defense tank. “And so this is Trump-proofing for the immediate four years, but there is growing concern that the United States will be less committed to Europe in the longer term.”
Some EU policymakers say they believe Trump will officially withdraw the US from NATO. Congress recently passed The legislation binds the country to the alliance and would require a two-thirds vote in the Senate to withdraw.
However, many fear that Trump would bring an even more transactional approach to the alliance, and some seriously criticized his pledge that he would look at it before deciding whether he would fulfill its loyalty to defense spending. Are you doing it or not? Help if they are attacked. How you deal with Trump is dominating the social conversation among NATO policymakers in Washington, along with the indistinguishable obsession over whether Biden will abandon his reelection struggle.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday played down concerns about a second Trump presidency.
“The main criticism of former President Trump, but also of other US presidents, is not primarily against NATO, it is against NATO allies not investing enough in NATO – and that has changed,” he told reporters. “The clear message has had an impact, because now allies are really stepping up.”
Asked whether EU leaders were talking about Trump behind closed doors, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Storey told The Washington Post in an interview that “You would believe me if I said no.” will not do.”
Beyond Washington, many leaders are taking the opportunity to have quiet talks with potential Trump-led foreign policy officials. Keith Kellogg, a retired general who was a national security assistant to then-Vice President Mike Pence and continues to advise Trump, said he had received 165 calls for briefings from foreign officials since November, and he approved 100 of them. Had given. Kellogg said he does not speak in a credible capacity for Trump or the Trump campaign.
Many global policymakers – including Ukrainian leaders, who have most to lose – were placing their bets on the possibility that Trump could move back to the administrative center. It was an important Tuesday at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s collection of venue venues: the Reagan Institute, home to a roomful of Republican stalwarts and EU diplomats.
Although he was cautious not to immediately comment about the US election, Zelensky suggested Biden allow Ukraine to use US long-range weapons to attack military targets on the Russian border and in November or Don’t wait for anyone else. events.”
Later, when Fox News anchor Brett Baier was asked how closely he was following the US election, he said to the audience’s laughter, “I think more closely than you sometimes, Brett.”
Ukrainian leaders said they were hoping to stay ahead in the tumultuous US presidential race, aware of their role in Trump’s first impeachment in 2019. As president, Trump did not provide timely defense support to the Ukraine party that pressed Kiev for evidence of Biden’s alleged corruption. ,
“We don’t need to fit into every political process. We have to make sure that we protect our survival from political processes,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanyshina said in an interview.
NATO policymakers had been in intense discussion for months about the best way to control Trump’s resurgence. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Biden leadership opposed NATO’s immediate role in providing military assistance to Kiev, hoping to avoid Russian perceptions that the alliance was directly at war with Moscow.
That reluctance has faded as Ukraine’s early heroics were tempered by the positives of the fresh Russian battlefield. Meanwhile, Trump has increased in the polls and the EU’s concerns have increased. NATO policymakers are at extreme lengths to determine an unused NATO command that could handle most of the coordination roles staffed by the Pentagon.
Policymakers quietly acknowledge that Trump-proofing the alliance can only go so far – not least because Trump is not the only leader who has questioned NATO policy toward Ukraine and Russia. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico have also sponsored similar insurance policies.
Some leaders say a Trump presidency could be beneficial to NATO, especially if it prompts EU countries to spend more on their defense.
“I always say this to Europeans: ‘Stop worrying about Trump. You’ve done this before, you’ve done this for four years, and guess what? It actually wasn’t that bad for Europe, “Rachel Rizzo, a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council for Europe, said in a briefing with reporters. “There was some harsh rhetoric and tough language that certainly sparked controversy. , they were not harmful to NATO.
The fight to spend more has been suggested by right-wing leaders in Europe who support much of Trump’s migration-skeptic policies and are also pro-Ukraine, such as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Polish President Andrzej Duda.
Trump and Duda “are friends. They understand their values. They also understand credibility when it comes to security obligations,” said Jacek Siviera, head of Duda’s National Security Bureau.
Italy’s ambassador to the US, Mariangela Zappia, said NATO’s core interests could oppose the elections.
He said, “I believe the NATO summit will really be a confirmation of how democratic systems can choose different paths but ultimately stand together on principles: in this case, the boundaries of aggression. Cannot be changed by medium.”
Professional NATO policymakers are expected to take control of the fragmented policy scene under the leadership of the incoming secretary general, Mark Rutte, who, as a long-serving Dutch prime minister, met with Trump several times and at times had a tense standoff. Was known for his strategy in managing negotiations. ,
It could put him in the tradition of Stoltenberg, who earned praise throughout the show for finding ways to work with Trump.
Camille Brilliant, former NATO associate secretary general, said, “He made a very conscious decision not to quarrel with the American president, not to challenge him publicly or privately, and never to be caught talking about him.” Member of the European Union Council on International Relations of the Family.
Oana Lungescu, NATO spokesperson between 2010 and 2023 and now a principal fellow at the London-based Royal United Products and Services Institute, said Stoltenberg’s team produced a single, easy-to-read graph that showed the EU’s Defense expenditure has increased. The coalition also looked for ways to give Trump credit for motivating allies to spend more.
He said, “The figures were real – it’s about how you shape it and how you use it (to show) that it is getting results, that NATO is winning.”
Rutte, 57, spent 14 years in political coalitions as the Netherlands’ top minister and is unmistakable as a talented and savvy diplomat with a clear, practical taste. People who have worked with him say he is deeply dedicated to transatlantic dating and will do whatever it takes to protect it.
A senior EU confidant who worked with him for years said, “He believes deeply in the power and strength of US-European cooperation as a force to project Western values on the global stage and he will speak up for that.” ” To talk about delicate issues in anonymity.
In a much-discussed 2018 interaction at the Oval Administrative Center, Root apparently hit back when Trump made off-the-cuff remarks about the industry, insisting that if the US and Europe failed to achieve a resolution it would ” Will be positive.
“No,” Root said, while Trump continued speaking. “It’s not positive,” Rutte continued, smiling. “We’ve got some work to do.”
Trump waved his hand and left the scene.
“Europe needs to act regardless of the outcome of the US election,” Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said in an interview. “We also have to take greater responsibility for Ukraine, because Ukraine is in our backyard.”
Ellen Nakashima and Karen DeYoung contributed to this record.
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