President Trump’s envoy said NATO member countries must contribute fairly to defense before considering expanding the alliance, such as admitting Ukraine.
“You will have huge problems in the US if you let the Secretary General of NATO talk about admitting Ukraine into the military alliance,” Richard Grenell, special envoy of US President Donald Trump, said on January 23.
Mr. Grenell’s remarks came after NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who was once prime minister of the Netherlands, said that becoming a full member of NATO would be the “easiest outcome” for Ukraine if “durable” peace is guaranteed.
“You cannot ask the American people to expand the scope of NATO protection when current members do not contribute their fair share, including the Netherlands. The Netherlands also needs to increase its contribution,” Mr. Grenell said.
Richard Grenell in Wisconsin, USA in July 2024. Image: Reuters
Grenell echoed President Trump’s call for NATO members to spend more on defense. “We need to make sure those leaders spend the appropriate amount of money,” he said.
Grenell criticized former president Joe Biden for not contacting Russian President Vladimir Putin since the outbreak of war in Ukraine and said Mr. Trump is putting pressure on Moscow and Kiev to “sit at the negotiating table.”
“Americans are extremely disappointed that we are spending hundreds of billions of dollars, while our leaders are not communicating with each other to try to solve the problem,” Grenell emphasized.
In 2023, 32 NATO member states set a minimum defense spending level of 2% of GDP. Mr. Trump proposed increasing this level to 5%. Mr. Rutte admitted the need to increase defense spending. “We will decide on the exact number by the end of the year, but it will be significantly higher than 2%,” Secretary General Rutte said.
He also said that Europe will have to contribute more to continue receiving US defense support. “We must be ready to do that, because currently the US is contributing more than Europe. Mr. Trump is right about this issue,” Mr. Rutte said.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Switzerland on January 23. Image: AFP
After envoy Grenell’s speech, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo reminded that Russia is the alliance’s opponent. “I see partners criticizing each other a lot. That’s not helpful,” he said.
Mr. Trump said earlier this month that his predecessor Biden decided to allow Ukraine to join NATO, implying that this was the reason why Russia launched a campaign in the neighboring country. In fact, NATO countries agreed in 2008 on the possibility of Ukraine joining the bloc. However, the US and Germany recently no longer support this move due to concerns about the risk of NATO being dragged into conflict with Russia.