Asked whether he would provide immediate military aid to the Baltic NATO members, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, if they were attacked by Russia, Trump said he would judge whether or not the victim had sufficiently contributed to the alliance before deciding whether to come to their aid.
Advertisement
When asked if the USA would automatically protect these countries from Russian aggression, he said it would depend on their contributions: “If they fulfill their obligations to us, the answer is yes”.
Jake Sullivan, a senior policy advisor to Hillary Clinton, also issued a statement condemning Trump’s remarks.
Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump, walks out to the stage to greet Republican Vice Presidential Nominee Gov. Mike Pence of IN during the third day session of the Republican National Convention IN Cleveland, Wednesday, July 20, 2016.
Trump said scrapping the military alliance is part of his “America first” approach to foreign policy. The trigger mechanism for this vow, Article 5, has only been invoked once – by the United States after 9/11, when North Atlantic Treaty Organisation forces fought, and died, along with US troops in the war in Afghanistan. Lindsey Graham of SC, said: “I’m 100 percent certain how Russian President (Vladimir) Putin feels – he’s a very happy man”.
Trump was quoted as saying that if elected, he would not exert pressure on Turkey or other authoritarian allies about purging political opponents or cracking down on civil liberties. “One day, he can say whether it pays defending Baltic states and on another day he might say that the USA would shoot down Russian jets over Baltic Sea”. He also argued that Estonia is one of five European NATO countries that met the two percent defense expenditures commitment and “fought with no caveats” in Afghanistan when the US invoked Article 5 of the treaty, which levels that an attack on one of the 28 member countries is an attack on all of them. “I don’t think so”. “If they fulfill their obligation to us, the answer is yes”. “Solidarity among allies is a key value for NATO”, Secretary GeneralJens Stoltenberg, the head of the organization, told BuzzFeed News.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenbert said he wouldn’t wade into the US presidential campaign, but he noted that “solidarity among allies is a key value for NATO”.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg responded to Trump’s comments in a statement Thursday. “. Right now, there are many countries that have not fulfilled their obligations to us”. That would be a radical change in the way the US upholds the NATO treaty, and could alter the post-war relationship between the USA and Europe. Putin has also been, thus the worry over a potential invasion by Russia Unless, of course, Trump became president: Putin and Trump have warm and fuzzy feelings for one another and would “get along very well”, as Trump himself has said.
Advertisement
He said the United States has to “fix our own mess” before trying to sway the behavior of other nations.
