NATO Secretary General: Alliance will 'remain united' no matter who wins US election

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that the North Atlantic Alliance will remain a united force regardless of who wins the US election.

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"Whoever wins this election, we will work with Kamala Harris, we will work with Donald Trump and make sure that the Alliance remains united," Rutte said together with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Rutte said that he had "no doubt" that each candidate would continue to support NATO if they won, as it was "in the interests of the United States".

To clarify, Western allies fear that NATO will face turbulent times if Trump wins the election. The alliance has already suffered a "blow" during Trump's 2017-2021 presidency, when he criticised allies for what he saw as insufficient spending.

In February, Trump warned that he would encourage the Russians to do "whatever they want" to NATO allies who do not pay more for joint defence.

Harris, meanwhile, has pledged, like President Joe Biden, to work with allies and support NATO.

Rutte said that reports of North Korean troops in Russia meant that it was important to do "everything possible to preserve not only the Euro-Atlantic but also the Indo-Pacific region".

"This motivates us to step up to do even more," he said, calling Pyongyang's support "a very serious development and escalation."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a request for NATO membership when he recently presented his "Victory Plan" to Western allies. At the same time, Rutte noted that the bilateral security agreements signed between several countries and Ukraine are "a bridge to NATO membership in the long term".

"I am absolutely convinced that one day Ukraine will become a NATO member," he said.

Source: The Defence Post