Does not see the threat in the Russian Federation, and requires more money for defense: NATO is surprised by Trump's position - AP

To spread: Diplomats of the NATO Member States of the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) do not understand the position of US President Donald Trump. Allies are embarrassed by the fact that the US leader requires to double the defense expenditures and at the same time seeks to restore relations with the Russian Federation, which NATO members consider the greatest threat to security. About it writes April 2 Associated Press.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio should visit the collections of high-ranking diplomats from NATO member states on April 3. The authors of the article point out that the allies are "disturbed, outraged and embarrassed by" the desire of Trump's administration against the background of an effort to reach a truce in Ukraine to restore ties with Russia and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who sees in the Alliance a threat.

According to journalists, US allies seek to find out whether Trump believes that the Russian Federation is still "the most significant and direct threat to the Alliance's security", as NATO's leaders insisted in their statement at the last year's summit. Diplomats have the question of why the Allies should raise the defense spending of up to 5% of its gross domestic product if Russia, in the view of the US Presidential Administration, is no longer threatened.

At the same time, Canada and European countries understand that they need to increase costs in order to protect themselves and continue to equip Ukraine, journalists say. It is expected that at the summit in June, the Alliance leaders will increase the target for NATO's military budget from 2% to more than 3% of GDP. The President of the American-German Institute of John Hopkins University Jeff Ratke believes that Marco Rubio is "in a very difficult position".

"Trump tried to convince the Allies that the reorganization of relations with Russia was in line with the interests of the United States and probably Europe, and at the same time said that they need to double their defense expenditures to cope with Russia's threats. Why is the logical question: why?" - says Ratke. NBC News journalists, citing anonymous sources in the United States, wrote on March 6 that Donald Trump was reviewing the US participation in NATO.

Earlier, he demanded from the Alliance to increase defense costs to 5%. According to insiders, Trump also considers the opportunity to provide support and priority in conducting military exercises only to those countries that will spend a certain percentage on defense. The Financial Times, citing unnamed European officials on March 22, wrote that European leaders are afraid of US exit from NATO and preparing a plan of action, which will redistribute responsibility in the Alliance for 5-10 years.