The Trump Administration’s National Security Strategy says very little about NATO beyond prioritizing the end of its perpetual expansion, but according to a Reuters report issued yesterday, the U.S. wants Europe to take over the majority of NATO’s conventional defense capabilities, from intelligence to missiles by 2027. This “unrealistic” deadline was reportedly spelled out to European diplomats in Washington by Pentagon staff overseeing NATO policy this week, according to five unnamed sources “familiar with the discussion.”
In the meeting, Pentagon officials reportedly indicated that Washington was not yet satisfied with the strides Europe has made to boost its defense capabilities since Russia’s “expanded invasion” of Ukraine in 2022. The U.S. officials told their counterparts that if Europe does not meet the 2027 deadline, the U.S. may stop participating in some NATO defense coordination mechanisms, said the sources.
Conventional defense capabilities include non-nuclear assets from troops to weapons and the officials did not explain how the U.S. would measure Europe’s progress toward shouldering most of the burden, Reuters reports further. It was also not clear if the 2027 deadline represented the Trump administration position or only the views of some Pentagon officials.
