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Donald Trump jostled his European allies on Tuesday, saying his meeting with Vladimir Putin next week could be easier than the NATO summit on Wednesday and Thursday in Brussels, which looks tense. [19659002] "There is NATO, the United Kingdom (…) and there is Putin", enumerated the American president, gardens of the White House, before embarking for a European tour of more than a week
And to continue: "Frankly, Putin could be the easiest of all who would have thought it …"
M. Trump will meet his Russian counterpart in Helsinki on Monday for a first-ever bilateral summit, days after a meeting with his NATO allies, who expect to be put under pressure on the sharing of defense spending.
US President has repeatedly demanded Europeans to increase their military spending in order to meet their commitment to raise them to 2% of their GDP in 2024.
Shortly before his arrival in Brussels, he has, since the Presidential plane Air Force One, hammered the nail, going so far as to suggest that countries that do not meet their commitments "pay back" in the United States, while the very notion of arrears does not exist in the operation of the Alliance.
"Many NATO countries, which we are supposed to defend, not only do not keep their commitment of 2% (which is low), but for years have failed in their payments they do not pay Will they repay the United States? " tweeted the tempestuous American president.
Since Monday, he prepares the ground by chaining the vindictive messages.
"the countries of the NATO must pay MORE, the United States must pay LESS. Very unfair!", he said on Tuesday before leaving for Europe. "It's not fair to the American taxpayer."
The United States accounted for just under 72% of NATO spending in 2017: $ 686 billion out of a total of $ 957 billion spent by its 29 members for their defense
– 'Strategic Friend' –
New figures released on Tuesday seem to confirm the argument of the US President, only seven countries – the United Kingdom, Greece, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Lithuania and Romania – expected to reach 2% of GDP outside of the United States in 2018.
"Burden-sharing is not fair", acknowledged Tuesday Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg. But "considerable progress has been made," he said.
"Europe now spends a lot more on defense than Russia and as much as China," the president said. Donald Tusk European Council, speaking directly to Mr Trump
"I hope you do not doubt that this is an investment in our security, which can not be said with the same badurance about Russian and Chinese expenses, "said the Polish leader.
" Dear America, consider your allies better, after all you do not have that much, "he also said, The spokesman for the Europeans, who fear that with his critics, the US President is trying to divide them and question the very functioning of the Alliance, after having already failed a G7 in June in Canada.
million. Tusk recalled that Europe was "the first to react" after the 9/11 attacks on US soil, "870 European men and women" having "sacrificed their lives" in Afghanistan.
"Mr. President Do not forget that tomorrow when we will meet at the NATO summit, but especially when you meet President Putin in Helsinki.It is always interesting to know who is your strategic friend and who is your strategic problem? "
The US president's plane, which is traveling with his wife Melania, is scheduled to land in the evening (around 7:30 pm GMT) in Belgium.
About 2,400 police officers and 1,000 Belgian soldiers will be mobilized to secure the NATO summit for two days.
M. Trump will then travel to the UK on Friday to meet with Prime Minister Theresa May.
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