Trump’s Stance on Russia Means ‘NATO Should Change Its Attitude’

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9 years ago

US President-elect Donald Trump will try to improve relations with Russia since he views Moscow as Washington’s potential partner, but he will encounter opposition from the American intelligence community, some in Congress and several NATO members, particularly Poland and the Baltic states, Dr. Germano Dottori told Radio Sputnik.

In Trump’s view, Russia is a “partner rather than an adversary,” the political analyst said. “And partnering with Russia means that some of [Washington’s] European allies in NATO should change their attitude.”

Dottori, Professor of Geopolitical and Strategic Studies at Luiss University of Rome, maintained that Trump’s critical stance on NATO reflects his wish to readjust the bloc’s stance on Russia so that it would be more aligned with the incoming US administration’s foreign policy vision.

“The best way to make them think about the acceptance of change is to remind them that the United States is the most important shareholder of NATO and can withdraw its financial support to [the alliance] in case NATO does not adapt to the interest of the US,” he explained.

These comments came in response to Trump calling the North Atlantic Alliance “obsolete” earlier on Monday. He said that the bloc was outdated because it “wasn’t taking care of terror.” Trump also chastised those NATO members who were allocating less than 2 percent of their GDP on defense spending, but said that the alliance was still “very important” to him.

The political analyst mentioned that Trump will also face opposition from those who are “accustomed to a different US foreign policy paradigm,” specifically naming the US intelligence community and US Congress. However, the US president-elect will be capable of dealing with them, he added.

“I think Trump will prevail over the intelligence community [because he can replace] top officials,” the expert said. “The US Congress is a different matter,” but Trump can deal with US Congressman if he “delivers on some of the most important promises” he made during the election campaign.

If Trump succeeds in changing the minds of those opposed to his foreign policy objectives, the relationship between Russia and the United States “will change for the better,” the analyst said. “This will be very beneficial to some European countries, especially Italy.”

US President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly indicated that he wanted to improve relations between Washington and Moscow, which comes in sharp contrast to the Obama administration’s approach to Russia. Earlier on Monday, Trump reiterated that he will try to “make some good deals with Russia.”

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