NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will meet with US President Donald Trump in Washington next week as Trump publicly considers the possibility of the US withdrawing from the alliance over the Iran war, The Hill reports.
A White House official confirmed the information to the publication after media reported on Rutte's visit. NATO spokeswoman Allison Hart told the publication that Rutte's visit had been planned for some time.
However, the trip came after Trump and government officials had been considering the possibility of Washington withdrawing from the Alliance due to the reluctance of NATO member states to help the US protect the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has closed since the start of the US-Israeli military operation in the country.
Trump also told U.S. allies the day before that they should either buy American oil or get it from the Strait of Hormuz, saying they need to start learning to fight on their own.
Trump has long been a critic of the international alliance, but he made his most scathing statement against NATO on Wednesday, telling The Telegraph that U.S. membership in the organization was "not up for review."
"I would say it's not up for review. NATO has never had any influence on me. I've always known it was a paper tiger, and putin knows it, by the way," Trump said.
His statement was echoed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who appeared to say the U.S. would review its relationship with the alliance. U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker also said Trump was "re-evaluating" U.S. membership in the Alliance. According to the latter, Trump is reviewing everything, "whether it's our participation in NATO, whether it's our support for European efforts in Ukraine, whether it's anything else that the United States does."
The US withdrawal would be a landmark step in the international community. The US is one of the 12 founding members of NATO, which was created in 1949. The Alliance currently has 32 member states, mostly concentrated in Europe.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the Financial Times also reported that Trump threatened to halt Washington's participation in key defense programs for Ukraine in order to force European allies to intervene in the situation around the Strait of Hormuz.
Who we are: About us, Contacts. How we write news and our principles: Editorial code. We did our best. If you found this valuable – please support us.
To request a correction, please send an email.