NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said today that he is working to persuade Donald Trump, who won the last US presidential election, to facilitate access to American weapons systems for European partners, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
Rutte stressed that European allies are already investing significant funds - hundreds of billions of dollars - in the US defense industry. However, he believes that the US defense sector needs to be more liberalized. This includes eliminating the need for approval from Congress, the Pentagon and the White House for access to certain weapons systems.
"For example, there is a serious demand in Europe for Patriot missile defense systems, each of which costs two billion dollars. These are huge revenues for the United States and the American economy," he noted. However, the process of acquiring these systems takes too long, which, according to Rutte, limits the possibilities for European security.
Rutte's initiative comes in the context of expected pressure from Donald Trump on European allies to increase defense spending. On Tuesday, Trump said NATO members should increase spending to 5 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP), significantly more than the current target of 2 percent.
During his first term as president, Trump has repeatedly criticized allies for relying too heavily on the United States for their own defense. He has even stated his intention to withdraw the United States from the alliance if concrete measures are not taken to increase European security investment. Mark Rutte is expected to comment on Trump's call later today.