Uploaded July 2018 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Chaired by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the summit is set to discuss the most urgent issues for its members concerning international security and military affairs. Transatlantic trade agreements as well as the US withdrawal from both the global climate pact and Iran nuclear deal are on the summit’s agenda.
US President Donald Trump claimed that because of his efforts NATO had raised “$40 billion” over the past year, speaking alongside NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg ahead of the NATO Summit opening in Brussels on Wednesday.
“He may be the only one [to like me] but that's OK with me,” said Trump of the NATO boss.
Trump once again voiced his concerns over other NATO members supposedly not spending enough on defence, saying, “the United States is paying far too much.”
Stoltenberg for his part emphasised defence expenditure as one of the main topics of the summit saying, “NATO allies have to invest more.”
US President also criticised Germany for what he described as its gas ties with Russia during an official breakfast with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg ahead of the NATO Summit in Brussels on Tuesday.
Trump complained that “we are supposed to protect you against Russia but they are paying billions of dollars to Russia and I think that’s very inappropriate.” Germany has said the gas deal is a private business venture.
Trump referred to the North Stream 2 pipeline project that will bring Russian gas across the Baltic Sea. The US president said that as a result “Germany will have over 70% of their country controlled by Russia with natural gas. So you tell me: is that appropriate?”
“I’ve been complaining about this, since the time I’ve got in, it should have never been allowed to have happened, but Germany is totally controlled by Russia, because they’ll get between 60 to 70 percent of their energy from Russia and a new pipeline and you tell me if that’s appropriate, because for me it’s not and I think it’s a very bad thing for NATO,” he added.
During the official breakfast Trump also complained that other member countries are not paying enough into the NATO budget.
Not long after German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters that Berlin would increase its defence expenditure by '80 percent', relative to its 2014 estimate, within the next six years in Brussels on Wednesday.
Ahead of NATO's annual summit, Merkel was keen to emphasise that Germany would pull its weight and at least meet the two-percent defence sending threshold which was agreed at the 2014 summit in Wales.
"Germany also acts for the benefit of NATO: we are the second biggest provider of troops, the most significant part of our military is available to NATO, and we are, to this very today, very strongly involved in Afghanistan," she added.
It comes in the wake of US President Donald Trump pointing to estimates which suggest Washington delegates some four percent of its GDP to defence while Germany allocates around a percent.
Merkel said she expects 'controversial discussions' at the summit.
Source: Ruptly
TBU NEWS
Chaired by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the summit is set to discuss the most urgent issues for its members concerning international security and military affairs. Transatlantic trade agreements as well as the US withdrawal from both the global climate pact and Iran nuclear deal are on the summit’s agenda.
US President Donald Trump claimed that because of his efforts NATO had raised “$40 billion” over the past year, speaking alongside NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg ahead of the NATO Summit opening in Brussels on Wednesday.
“He may be the only one [to like me] but that's OK with me,” said Trump of the NATO boss.
Trump once again voiced his concerns over other NATO members supposedly not spending enough on defence, saying, “the United States is paying far too much.”
Stoltenberg for his part emphasised defence expenditure as one of the main topics of the summit saying, “NATO allies have to invest more.”
US President also criticised Germany for what he described as its gas ties with Russia during an official breakfast with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg ahead of the NATO Summit in Brussels on Tuesday.
Trump complained that “we are supposed to protect you against Russia but they are paying billions of dollars to Russia and I think that’s very inappropriate.” Germany has said the gas deal is a private business venture.
Trump referred to the North Stream 2 pipeline project that will bring Russian gas across the Baltic Sea. The US president said that as a result “Germany will have over 70% of their country controlled by Russia with natural gas. So you tell me: is that appropriate?”
“I’ve been complaining about this, since the time I’ve got in, it should have never been allowed to have happened, but Germany is totally controlled by Russia, because they’ll get between 60 to 70 percent of their energy from Russia and a new pipeline and you tell me if that’s appropriate, because for me it’s not and I think it’s a very bad thing for NATO,” he added.
During the official breakfast Trump also complained that other member countries are not paying enough into the NATO budget.
Not long after German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters that Berlin would increase its defence expenditure by '80 percent', relative to its 2014 estimate, within the next six years in Brussels on Wednesday.
Ahead of NATO's annual summit, Merkel was keen to emphasise that Germany would pull its weight and at least meet the two-percent defence sending threshold which was agreed at the 2014 summit in Wales.
"Germany also acts for the benefit of NATO: we are the second biggest provider of troops, the most significant part of our military is available to NATO, and we are, to this very today, very strongly involved in Afghanistan," she added.
It comes in the wake of US President Donald Trump pointing to estimates which suggest Washington delegates some four percent of its GDP to defence while Germany allocates around a percent.
Merkel said she expects 'controversial discussions' at the summit.
Source: Ruptly
TBU NEWS
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Courtesy of and Credits to NBC
Source: Ruptly
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