Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged on Friday that he wants NATO to “fall apart,” as he criticized President Trump for urging allies to increase their defense spending.
“[T]hey should completely be falling apart, that will help,” Putin said during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. “But we don’t see that falling [apart] just yet.”
Putin was responding to a question from NBC’s Megyn Kelly, who asked if “squabbling about NATO” is good for Russia. The exchange comes after President Trump attended a NATO summit in Europe and declined to explicitly endorse the NATO treaty provision requiring mutual defense, as he urged NATO members to increase spending and suggested allies also “owe massive amounts of money from past years.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced after the summit that the United States is no longer a reliable partner for Europe.
“We are seeing the way the military’s infrastructure is expanding [toward] our borders and this is something which cannot but concern us,” Putin said during the panel.
Those remarks fueled criticism of Trump on Friday, as skeptics of his policies regarding NATO took Putin’s statement as confirmation of their views. “Sometimes I admire Putin[‘s] bluntless,” former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul tweeted at Trump. “You are advancing Putin’s agenda. Clear as day.”
Putin emphasized that the substance of the squabbling is bad for Russian policy, however, as he criticized Trump’s call for increased spending at the latest summit.
“The United States demand from their allies to raise their military spending, and simultaneously they say that NATO is not going to attack anybody,” he said. “But if you’re not going to attack anybody, why should you increase your military spending?”
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Putin wants Trump to drop call for NATO defense spending hike https://t.co/kqZUZLQsn2 pic.twitter.com/CkOph2txFf
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) June 2, 2017
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