Donald Trump affirmed his administration’s commitment to NATO’s defence on Thursday, while calling on Russia to end its “destabilizing” action in Ukraine and elsewhere in the world.
Trump’s reference to Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which commits alliance members to defend each other, represented a change of tone from the U.S. president, who upset allies by not mentioning support for the provision during a trip to NATO headquarters in May.
“We stand firmly behind Article 5,” Trump said during a speech in Warsaw, Poland.
But he again called on NATO members, most of which are in Europe, to meet their financial requirements under the terms of the alliance, which requires each of the 29 countries to spend two per cent of GDP on defence.
“Europe must do more,” Trump said. “Europe must demonstrate it believes in the future by investing money to secure that future.”
Trump praised Poland for meeting its NATO commitments, and for its recent decision to purchase the U.S.-made Patriot missile defence system.
Trump’s criticism of Russia comes ahead of his first face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Germany during the G20 summit on Friday.
“We urge Russia to cease its destabilizing activities in Ukraine and elsewhere and its support for hostile regimes including Syria and Iran, and to instead join the community of responsible nations in our fight against common enemies and the defence of civilization itself,” he said, echoing remarks made earlier in the day during a joint news conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda.
The Kremlin said in a statement it disagreed with Trump’s initial remarks and that it regretted a lack of understanding between Russia and the U.S. about expectations for their future relations.
