Trump has done more to undermine NATO's authority in weeks than putin has in years - Czech President

Czech President Petr Pavel has sharply criticized US President Donald Trump's criticism of NATO. According to him, Trump has managed to do more to undermine the Alliance's authority than russian dictator vladimir putin.

This is reported by Seznam Zpráv.

"The moment we start to question the Alliance as a single entity, ready to act together and very decisively, then, of course, its role disappears. Trump has done more to undermine NATO's authority in the last few weeks than vladimir putin has managed in many years," Pavel said, commenting on Trump's verbal attacks against allies in Europe and the North Atlantic Alliance.

He also stressed that NATO is primarily a defense alliance of member states.

"This is not an alliance that will automatically provide assistance in wars fought outside the Alliance's territory," Pavel added.

According to the Czech President, Trump's position is "not fair, to put it mildly."

In addition, Pavel believes that it is too early to assess the truce in the military conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran.

"I think we will have to wait for concrete results, whether these 14 days will really bring a peace agreement, whether the ten-point plan will be implemented, whether during this time there will really be a resumption of hostilities, whether in Lebanon or in Iran. And only then will we be able to assess. The question will be what has actually been achieved," Pavel said.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, Donald Trump's administration is increasing pressure on European partners, demanding that they take on the main burden of guaranteeing security in the strategically important Strait of Hormuz.

And NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, after meeting with Trump, confirmed the presence of serious tension within the Alliance due to the military campaign in the Middle East.

On the eve of their meeting, the White House reported that US President Donald Trump had discussed and was going to discuss with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte a possible withdrawal from NATO.

Meanwhile, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf said the US had violated some of the agreements even before the negotiation process began. According to him, these are three of the ten points of the framework agreement that Tehran identified as the basis for a possible end to the conflict.