NATO urges creating bank to protect collective security from Trump
Former US President Donald Trump (photo: Getty Images)
Europe, the UK, and Ukraine urgently need to safeguard their collective security from the potential risks posed by Donald Trump by establishing a NATO bank to support defense spending, according to a report by British and German think tanks, reports The Guardian.
The report states that Europeans must acknowledge the reality that if Donald Trump wins the presidential election next month, he could quickly reduce US defense spending in Europe, attempt to impose a peace agreement on Ukraine that would leave part of its territory under Russian control, and even withdraw completely from NATO.
Such actions would have significant consequences for intelligence sharing and the viability of Article 5 - the most crucial provision of NATO regarding collective self-defense.
The report was prepared by the New Diplomacy Project, which is advised by Sir David Manning, a former UK ambassador to Washington, and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, which is linked to Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Trump has stated that if he wins the US election, he will tell Ukraine that it must reach an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin. There are only three months left to convince him that the price of peace that the Kremlin is likely to demand is unacceptable, the report indicates.
To mitigate the potential consequences of Trump's second presidency, NATO countries should support the establishment of a multilateral alliance credit institution in practice - a NATO bank, according to the document. This could save nations millions on essential equipment purchases, offer low interest rates on loans to alliance members, and introduce a new line of financing with longer repayment timeframes. The bank would be funded with initial subscriptions from Nato members in return for authorized capital stock.
Trump's plan for Ukraine
The authors predict that Trump's peace plan for Ukraine is likely to fail, as Russia seeks more than Trump realizes, and it may be too challenging for him to ignore the resistance to a proposed capitulation.
Dr. Jade McGlynn, one of the authors of the report from the New Diplomacy Project, stated, "The UK government and European leaders need to actively consider measures now to pre-emptively support Ukraine in the event that Trump is re-elected in November."
Trump recently stated that he knows both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy well. He mentioned plans to contact them if he wins the election to achieve negotiations for peace.
For more details on Trump's plan for Ukraine, read the article by RBC-Ukraine.
Politico reported that if Trump returns to the presidency, he is unlikely to withdraw the US from NATO but will initiate a radical reorientation of the alliance.
