US withdrawal from NATO possible, says President-Elect Trump

KABUL (Pajhwok): US President-elect Donald Trump has warned NATO allies again in a televised interview that the United States' presence in the Western military alliance (NATO) is not guaranteed and that the US withdrawal from NATO is possible.

According to the Associated Press, in an interview with NBC News, Trump said in response to a question about whether he would consider leaving NATO: "If they [NATO members] pay their bills and if they treat us fairly, the answer is, I'll stay in NATO."

Asked if he planned to pull the United States out of the alliance if it did not pay for military spending, he said: "Absolutely. Yes, absolutely." This comes after Trump had previously said that European countries and Canada, members of NATO, have not increased their military spending within the framework of NATO for a long time and that the United States is unfairly paying for the costs of this military alliance.

Trump also pushed Russian leader Vladimir Putin to act to reach an immediate ceasefire with Ukraine, describing it as part of his active efforts as president-elect to end the war despite being weeks from taking office

NATO is a military alliance between 32 countries in Europe and the Americas, which is currently the largest military alliance in the world.

According to this treaty, member countries have agreed to consider a military attack against one or more NATO member countries as an attack on all members and to take action to counter it.

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