Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump wants the United States to remain in NATO, and for the defense alliance to be strong, according to Trump’s vice presidential candidate JD Vance.
We would stay in NATO, he says.
In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the pressVance says, however, that NATO countries need to carry their own burden.
NATO is not a welfare client, it should be a real alliance.
Trump has previously complained about NATO and claimed that the NATO countries exploit and squander US resources.
During the interview, Vance avoids calling Russian President Vladimir Putin an “enemy”.
I definitely think he is an opponent. He is a competitor, he says.
Just because we don’t like someone doesn’t mean we can’t have a conversation with them sometimes.
Vance believes that talks with Russia are an important step in ending the war in Ukraine.
We’re going to have to be part of some kind of negotiation between Ukraine, Russia, our NATO allies in Europe, and that’s just a necessary part. It does not necessarily mean that we like it, or that we condone the Russian invasion of Ukraine.