NEW YORK, July 13. /TASS/. The ongoing disagreements between US President Donald Trump and European leaders represent the worst crisis for NATO since World War II, Ivo Daalder, former US Permanent Representative to NATO (2009-2013), said.
"I believe the alliance is currently in the biggest crisis it has ever faced in its 77-year history," he said, commenting on the situation to Bloomberg. Daalder added that Europeans "no longer see the United States as a reliable partner."
As Bloomberg reports, the meeting in Ankara strengthened the view that, no matter what the Europeans do, they will never be able to meet Trump's expectations, and his constant hostility may undermine the alliance's credibility.
The latest NATO summit was held in Ankara, Turkey. It took place over two days, from July 7 to 8. On the final day, US President Donald Trump, during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the sidelines of the summit, stated that the alliance disappointed him. One of the main reasons for this was, in Trump's view, the excessively large amounts of money the US spends on the security of its allies. At the same time, as Reuters reported, citing sources, the US leader assured Europeans in a closed-door meeting of his desire to keep the United States within NATO.