NATO discussing future without US leadership

US ex-President Donald Trump may return to the presidency.

German officials and their NATO colleagues have started informal discussions about whether the NATO can exist without US leadership, New York Times (NYT) reports, citing the sources, RBC informs.

The discussions are a sign of a “striking turn of thinking” as last year the NATO announced the new unity and goals amid Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.

The German officials are discussing a “new, complex and troubling world” that will have severe consequences for European and transatlantic security.

In particular, the officials are concerned about the growing pessimism about the continuation of US assistance to Ukraine. Now the US side renders huge assistance to Kyiv. Berlin ranks second in rendering assistance to Ukraine.

European ambassadors have appealed to Trump’s associates to find out his intentions. Some European countries intend to curry favor with the politician by increasing arms purchases from Washington, the NYT previously reported, having spoken to the diplomats.

Trump has repeatedly said the rest NATO member states are not investing enough in defence, that is why the US costs are huge. When Trump was a president in 2020, he warned the EU.

“If Europe is attacked, we will never come to help you and support you,” European Commissioner Thierry Breton, who was present at Trump’s meeting with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, cited Trump’s statement.

Breton said that the politician added that NATO is dead and we will leave NATO.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg doubts that Trump’s threat was real.

Stoltenberg added that the existence of the NATO is beneficial for the US side, while Trump’s statements were criticism towards several countries, rather than the existence of the NATO.

Former US Ambassador to Austria Trevor Traina has a similar opinion. In an article in the Wall Street Journal, he pointed out that people often focus on Trump’s words rather than on his deeds.

The diplomat reminded that Trump stood for energy independence, stopping Nord Stream 2, revising the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia, withdrawing from the deal with Iran and redeploying troops to Romania and Poland.