US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth refused to confirm his country's commitment to NATO's collective defense, saying that it would be up to US President Donald Trump after European allies did not side with Washington in the war against Iran, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
The agency described the statement, made by Hegseth at a Pentagon briefing, as unusual, given the fact that collective defense is at the heart of the alliance, created in 1949 with the main purpose of countering the risk of a Soviet attack on allied territory.
Any signal from the United States that it might be inclined not to defend NATO allies in the event of an attack by Russia or another adversary could seriously weaken the alliance, even if Trump decides not to withdraw from it completely - something that could require approval from the U.S. Congress, Reuters notes.
Experts have long warned that such statements could encourage Russia to test NATO members' willingness to invoke Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which states that an attack on one NATO country is an attack on all.
When asked by Reuters during the briefing whether the United States was still committed to NATO's collective defense, Hegseth replied: "As for NATO, that's a decision that will be left to the president. But I will just say that a lot has been revealed." Hegseth then appeared to refer to Trump's comments on social media, in which he sharply criticized France for not allowing overflights of U.S. military planes carrying supplies to Israel and criticized Britain for not joining the U.S. and Israel in the war against Iran. Trump said on Friday that the U.S. "is not obligated to support NATO." Hegseth said, "You can't have a real alliance if you have countries that are not willing to stand by your side when you need them. He's just pointing that out, and ultimately he (Trump) will decide what it looks like."