NATO Chief and Trump Meet in the US to Discuss "Global Security Issues"

The head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) visited the United States and met with President-elect Donald Trump for the first time.

According to Yonhap News on the 23rd, NATO spokesperson Para Daklala explained that Secretary General Mark Rutte discussed "global security issues facing the alliance" with President-elect Trump in Florida the previous day.

Secretary General Rutte, known as one of the European leaders who maintained a good cooperative relationship with President-elect Trump during his first term while serving as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, is expected to have discussed Western allies' response strategies to the escalating Ukraine war with Trump.

Recently, Ukraine struck the Russian mainland using long-range missiles ATACMS and Storm Shadow, supported by the United States and the United Kingdom. In response, Russia launched a hypersonic medium-range ballistic missile toward Ukraine for the first time.

Prior to this, Russia revised its nuclear doctrine, warning that Western countries supporting Ukraine could also become targets of Russia's nuclear weapons attacks.

It is also anticipated that the two discussed strategies for peace negotiations in Ukraine at the dialogue table.

President-elect Trump has maintained a position to end the Ukraine war based on the "current borders," implying recognition of the Ukrainian territories seized by Russia as Russian land, a stance opposed by Ukraine and European countries.

It remains uncertain whether the NATO chief and President-elect Trump mentioned the issue of defense cost-sharing among NATO allies during their first meeting.

The EU and President-elect Trump have had conflicts over defense cost-sharing in the past. During his tenure, Trump strongly demanded NATO allies increase their defense spending, advocating the "free-rider problem" in security. He also argued during this election process that each country's defense spending target should be raised from the current 2% of GDP to 3%.

Accordingly, voices within European countries advocating for strengthening their own defense capabilities are growing ahead of Trump's potential second term.