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US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Helsinki "could be the easiest" of his European tour, at a time when he was facing his European allies before the summit of l & # 39; NATO.
Trump leaves Washington on Tuesday morning for Brussels, where he will meet the leaders of the 29-member NATO on July 11 and 12, hoping to show a unity scene despite the apparent tension between the transatlantic allies on a number of issues. "Frankly, Putin is perhaps the easiest of them, who would have thought that?"
In a statement to reporters on his upcoming European tour, including his first bilateral summit with Putin, Trump told reporters. ]
Trump promised not to allow the EU to "exploit" the United States, and he constantly stresses that the EU is not doing enough to support the US. NATO and "unfairly" benefits from trade with the Americans.
He told reporters: "definitely have a good time with NATO."
"NATO does not treat us equitably, but I think we will find a solution." We pay too much, and they pay very little, "he said," but we will find a solution and all countries will be happy. "
The summit of Western leaders in Brussels could turn into a new public row after the G7 summit of June 2003 in Canada.
This summit is considered the most difficult for years in the midst of fears that Trump will become more aggressive towards the historic alliance that has sustained European security for 70 years.
As the leaders of the German and French coalition demanded that their differences be overcome, President of the European Union, Donald Tusk, on Tuesday sent a firm message to Trump urging him to "appreciate" his allies.
Tusk said at a conference of press after the signing of a new EU-NATO cooperation agreement at NATO Headquarters in Brussels: "Dear America, the fate of your allies, you do not have many of them" L & # America in Afghanistan after the attacks of 1 September 1, 2001.
"Remember that tomorrow when we meet at the NATO summit, but above all, when you meet President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, it is always worthwhile to the knowledge of your strategic friend and your strategic enemy. "
Trump meets Putin in the Finnish capital on July 16, at his first bilateral summit, amid ongoing investigations in the United States on a possible complicity between Trump and Russia.
The Fruits of the Cold War
European diplomats dread the repetition of a series of events in June when Trump clashed with his Western allies at the G7 summit .
Trump described Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as "weak and untrustworthy" and praised North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as "very talented" at a summit right after.
A European diplomat told Agence France-Presse that "Trump" strongly reprimands his allies and then kisses his opponents. "
The Kremlin has described NATO as a legacy of the Cold War.
19659003" NATO's position is well known: this alliance is the result of the Cold War and confrontation during the Cold War, "said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Piskov.He at the Atlantic Summit, he wrote letters to several NATO leaders to accuse them of 39, having missed their commitment to spend 2% in 2014
Trump told a crowd of his supporters at a rally this week that the US would not stay "that idiot who is paying all ".
But the new data released Tuesday, supports what he said, showing that only 7 countries of the alliance – Great Britain, Greece, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Lithuania and Romania – could reach the goal of spending 2% of the total in 2018.
Nevertheless, General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, that military spending has increased in Europe since 2014, and that members are making efforts to achieve the goal of 2 "Germany has planned to increase its (defensive) spending of 80 % from 2014 to 2024. Germany is going in the right direction, but I expect more from it, "Stoltenberg said at a press conference. "
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