NATO chief backs US president's concerns over Arctic battle. Secretary-General Mark Rutte, speaking to Reuters in Davos, says with full conviction that Donald Trump will not invade Greenland.
"What he said is that we need to make sure that the Arctic is of great geopolitical interest and we need to get our actions together. And it's clear that he holds this position," Rutte said.
The NATO chief reiterates his call for all Arctic countries, including the United States, to have a common strategy to push back the Russians and Chinese. Rutte also discusses Trump's proposal for peace negotiations between Moscow and Kiev.
"There is no other alternative because if Ukraine is lost, we will urgently need the American presence here to help us collectively ensure that Ukraine takes a position of strength to force Putin to come to the negotiating table, as President Trump said when he announced a new package of sanctions on the Ukraine issue. I am very pleased that he did this and I hope that the Europeans will support him."
He demanded that the 32 NATO member countries spend more on defense, just as Trump is demanding.
“We are really in a crisis situation here. First, we need to spend more money, and fast. Not everyone is meeting the 2 percent target, and they need to get there in a few months. We can’t wait any longer. Second, in the manufacturing industry, we are doing very badly.”
The NATO chief underlined, among other things, that if the Russia-Ukraine war ends with a bad deal, it will encourage the leaders of North Korea, Iran, and China to do the same and it would be a grave geopolitical mistake for the West. (A2 Televizion)
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