Politico interviewed experts and officials in the field of international politics and security about Donald Trump's plans to end the war in Ukraine and NATO's role in this process.
After returning to the White House, the Republican, according to journalists, will reorganise the Alliance on a two-tier model. Only those countries that will finance the defence sector to the tune of at least 2% of their GDP will be able to count on US support.
Otherwise, in the event of an attack, America led by Trump will not defend them. The former president's team does not consider this a violation of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, pointing to its flexible wording and the absence of a requirement to provide military assistance to the victim of aggression.
Trump also wants to significantly shift the Alliance's focus to Europe, forcing the Old World countries to make greater commitments of weapons and troops. He is not satisfied with the situation in which the US financial and resource share in NATO is ten times higher than Germany's.
As for Ukraine, the Republican does want to end the war quickly, but to do so, he is ready to force Kyiv to give up territory to Putin - at least Crimea and Donbas. He also supports the principle of NATO's non-expansion to the east, which effectively deprives not only Ukraine but also Georgia of the chance to join the Alliance. Trump considers it a "mistake" to promise Ukraine a future in NATO and condemns the policy of current US President Joe Biden on this issue.