NATO members are 'nothing' without the US

According to Tass on June 21, in an interview with the agency on the sidelines of the Saint Petersburg Economic Forum, former Austrian Foreign Minister and Director of the GORKI Analytical Center at Saint Petersburg University – Karin Kneissl said that NATO members all understand that without the US, they are nothing, so they are forced to focus on President Donald Trump.

“I have not heard of any changes to the NATO Summit program, but of course, President Trump has a lot to do right now. So I understand that the NATO Summit program could be shortened so that he can participate in all the important events. But his attitude towards NATO is completely exceptional. Of course, other NATO members understand that without the United States, they are nothing. Only one NATO country can play an important role in supplying weapons to Ukraine. The rest of the alliance cannot make up for the deficit in Kiev. So everyone is forced to focus on Donald Trump,” the former Austrian foreign minister commented on the information that the NATO Summit program will be shortened so that President Trump cannot leave early, as happened at the G7 Summit.

The former Austrian foreign minister added that time will tell how long NATO will last. At the same time, she said, the US will not leave the alliance, as some believe.

"Instead, I see a big problem on the part of Brussels, because the EU is increasingly becoming a military bloc. That is, the European Union is essentially encroaching on powers that it legally does not possess. It is encroaching on something it has never done before. A military union is being created, which simply should not exist in the current legal structure. After all, defense and foreign policy issues are not within the purview of supranational jurisdiction. However, the European Commission is increasingly intervening, taking control of these powers," Karin Kneissl stressed.

The Austrian diplomat added that if the EU really manages to establish a joint arms production venture on Ukrainian territory, as some European politicians, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, want, it would be detrimental to NATO. “Then Europe would have its own military-political alliance, and NATO would fade away. And from Russia’s point of view, a reasonable question arises: for many years it has been stated that Ukraine’s accession to NATO is excluded. But, given the military dynamics of the EU’s development, Russia cannot remain indifferent to Ukraine’s accession to the alliance,” the former Austrian foreign minister analyzed.