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Told the new york times of several occasions last year that the president had said privately he wanted to withdraw from nato a move let s face it that would destroy the alliance wouldn t it do you think reports like that shedding doubt on america s america s commitment to damage the alliance they do that corrosive. well what i would say to you is that it s perfectly natural for all kinds of issues to be discussed and debated in the white house as elsewhere but what we see is the reality and the practicality of u.s. support to nato going to mark or said europe can no longer rely on the united states and must take destiny into its own hands so they re not convinced so that the whole idea is to spread confidence in nato and it s some solidity it s not happening is it well you know uncle or merkel on the other european leaders step up ....
Them and that means seeing a level of of reform and development in their not only armed forces but also in their democratic practice let s talk about nato 70th birthday which is just come and go and it wasn t the happiest one downgraded to foreign minister level instead of the usual heads of government. you disagree on many issues you know secretary general hardly ideal in an alliance that claims its strength rests on unity as is the secretary general had a wonderful speech before a joint session of congress the 1st time any leader of an international organization has had that honor it was a great day but we haven t finished with our celebrations tim there will be a leaders meeting at the end of the year in london in december heads of state and government will celebrate nato 70th anniversary let me put it bluntly the problem is that many member states don t trust donald trump do this and his commitment to ....
Battle groups and some of that but you and all the russian knows russian knows that if they step across the line they will face the entire nato alliance but that is why nowadays we are placing our emphasis on reinforcement and readiness and being able to rapidly move troops in behind those battleground isn t impressed by that either it says that given the current posture and capability including the european battalions and rotational u.s. omid brigade combat team russia still enjoys a substantial time distance advantage in the initial days and weeks of a conventional ground campaign in the baltic states that s the reality of geo geography and the fact that russia does in fact sit as the great land power in eurasia that s a fact of history yeah but i do forces are not providing the tenants that you promised i don t know why you keep saying that tim you re sorry i m not sorry yes i m going to work to give sorting some reports that have come about and i m ....
Membership those countries included ukraine and georgia but we have been very clear that both of those countries are still on the path of reform we have to ensure that when countries are ready to enter nato store they are ready to contribute to security and defense in the alliance but also to come up to certain standards of democratic principle so what are you waiting for to moscow s taking another bite out of eastern ukraine no what we are waiting for is to see them come up to a certain level of readiness for nato membership. major allies have reiterated the decision we made some years ago that ukraine will become a member of nato that s the bucharest summit the 2nd that still stands at some point at some time it s up to ukraine to decide who their security relationships will be with that s an important principle from our perspective i have to say though it s also very important that all nato allies be ready to accept ....
Enormous wake up call and 2014 represented a sea change for the alliance not even see it coming not only in terms of a wake up call in ukraine but also the fact that the rise of eisel the establishment of the caliphate in mosul that brought the fight against terrorism and violent extremism into sharper focus as well so we did have a wake up call in that period and i think it has led to huge change in the alliance not least of which was a huge change in our defense spending and a look at why. we really need today to counter both of these kinds of challenges but despite the fact that you provide ukraine with what you installed and called strong political and practical support it makes no difference to what russia s moves in the military field in that area has it it s strengthened its naval forces it s built up its tanks according to the chief of staff ukrainian general staff ....