Customs duties do not affect our collective defense

The Secretary -General of NATO, “NATO”, Mark Rette, spoke during an interview with the American “CBS” channel, last week, about the developments of the trade war and the conflict in Ukraine, and Rawah believes that the trade war does not affect the Western alliance and defensive spending, while it is believed that the Americans are working hard to end the fighting in Ukraine.

Here are excerpts from the interview:

■ You and the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, have repeatedly repeated that this trade war does not affect NATO, but how can this tension between the allies have any effect? Are you concerned that European countries will go towards other markets, perhaps cheaper, like China?

■■ I do not say that it does not affect the allies as individual members, the trade war does not affect the alliance, I and Marco Rubio agree because the coalition focuses on ensuring our ability to face the Russian threat, and we can ensure our ability to support Ukraine as much as possible, collectively under the American leadership, to achieve permanent peace, and this is the focus of our focus during the past two days.

■ In Europe, as you know, the man who was responsible for the Marshall plan and contributed to the reconstruction after the Second World War, linking economic health, political stability and peace .. Isn’t these tensions your task is a little bit?

■■ Yes, you are right, there are tensions between the allies because of this issue – the issue of customs duties, but this does not concern the alliance as a whole, because there may be an impact on economies, but not to the point that it affects our collective defense, this is my firm belief.

■ There is a request from the United States and an invitation to its own destination to increase defense spending … right? So the next summit will be held in June, and the leaders are expected to raise the goal of military spending from 2% to 3%. The Trump administration wants to spend about 5% on defense for each country, and at the same time, America is working to reform its relationship with Russia.

■■ Well, first regarding the issue of the United States and Russia, what Trump has done since he took office is to break the stalemate in relation to this horrific war in Ukraine, because we must stop killing, stop fighting, and praise him for that, and I must say that European allies fully support American efforts to end this war in a fair and lasting way, and we must see to what extent we can reach.

What I mean is that the American administration is working on that day and night, which is important, and when it comes to defensive spending during the past two months here on the European side of the “NATO”, the volume of billions received is amazing. This must be compared to the days of the Cold War, when you look at the total defensive spending that is now increasing in Europe, and we must continue to do so, because as I said in December if we adhere to the old 2%, we will not be able to defend ourselves here within three to five years.

■ But at the same time that Trump calls for a peace agreement in Ukraine, there is a parallel and separate effort to reform America’s relationship with Russia. The reopening of diplomatic facilities is being discussed, so not to undermine the United States’ rapprochement with Russia your efforts to confront Russia?

■■ Well, I am not sure that I will share your full evaluation of what the United States and Russia are doing at the present time, of course I was not present in the hall during all these talks, but what I see from afar and I hear from my American colleagues, including the president, is that there is an effort to end this war.

The Trump administration wants a comprehensive ceasefire in Ukraine, but the Russians will only agree to a partial stop, are you concerned that Russia dictates its conditions?

■■ No, I am not worried, because I spoke with Marco Rubio, and I am in regular communication with other members of the American administration, and I think they are trying step by step to reach a situation where this war can end. About CBS