US President Donald Trump has threatened to halt arms supplies to Ukraine if European allies refuse to join a coalition to restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
“Elchi” reports that “Financial Times” (FT) newspaper wrote about this, citing sources.
Last month, Trump demanded that NATO naval forces help him restore shipping through the strait, but received a refusal from European leaders who stated they did not want to be involved in the conflict. According to sources, the US leader, in response, threatened to halt supplies under PURL, a NATO arms procurement program for Ukraine funded by EU countries.
As a result, at the insistence of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, a group of countries, including key members France, Germany, and Great Britain, issued a joint statement on March 19, declaring their readiness to contribute to ensuring safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Later, the number of countries supporting this position reached 35. According to two officials, in the two days prior to the statement’s publication, Rutte held numerous phone conversations with Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“President Trump has openly expressed his disappointment with NATO and other allies, and as the President emphasized, the United States will remember this,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said earlier.
Trump has repeatedly expressed his dissatisfaction with European allies for not doing more to help the US in its war against Iran, while also calling the Russia-Ukraine conflict Europe’s problem, not Washington’s.
“We are there to protect NATO, to protect them from Russia. But they are not ready to protect us. This is ridiculous,” he said at a Cabinet meeting last week. On Wednesday, Trump stated that he was considering the possibility of the US withdrawing from NATO.