MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/. NATO remains highly advantageous for Washington, and US President-elect Donald Trump is likely to push for increased returns from the alliance, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko stated in an interview with kp.ru.

"We should not forget that NATO is a good deal for the US. Through NATO, Washington draws resources from its European allies, compelling them to raise military spending significantly after abandoning peace. Now, Washington and Brussels are even discussing increasing the mandatory spending norm from 2% to 3% of GDP. European orders for the US military-industrial complex total hundreds of billions of dollars. NATO serves as a tool for Washington to coerce its allies into advancing US interests well beyond the alliance's traditional areas of focus—most notably in efforts to contain China," Grushko remarked.

He added, "It is highly probable that the new US administration will actively explore ways to boost the ‘return’ from the alliance, echoing Donald Trump’s approach during his first presidential term."

Grushko also highlighted NATO’s origins, stating that it was created under US initiative and has always been designed to manage and control its European allies. "As the first Secretary General of the alliance, Lord Hastings Ismay, famously said, NATO’s purpose is to ‘keep the Soviet Union out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.’ In this context, NATO not only retains its original essence but has grown even more pertinent in an era when Western dominance is eroding, and internal unity is showing cracks," the diplomat concluded.