Russia and Putin · 2016 campaign · № 12
Said he would defend Baltic NATO allies from a Russian attack only if they had 'fulfilled their obligations to us'
“Have they fulfilled their obligations to us? If they fulfill their obligations to us, the answer is yes.”
- Said
- , Interview with The New York Times at the Republican National Convention, Cleveland
- Subject
- NATO's Baltic members
- Type
- NATO and allies
- Topic
- Foreign policy
- Era
- 2016 campaign
What happened
Asked by David Sanger whether NATO members in the Baltics could count on U.S. military aid if attacked by Russia, Trump conditioned the answer on whether they had met their obligations and said 'right now there are many countries that have not fulfilled their obligations to us'. The Times reported that this appeared to be the first time a major presidential candidate had suggested conditioning the defense of allies; Article 5 of the NATO treaty requires members to come to the aid of any member that NATO declares was attacked, and had been invoked only once, after September 11, 2001. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg responded in a statement that 'solidarity among allies is a key value for NATO', and Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves posted evidence that his country was meeting its defense commitments. Earlier in the interview Trump said 'I think Putin and I will get along very well' and, asked directly whether he would come to the aid of Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania, said 'I don't want to tell you what I'd do because I don't want Putin to know what I'd do.'