Donald Trump said he would defend fellow Nato allies who have fulfilled their defence spending commitments, amid worries in some foreign capitals over the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s support for the military alliance.

Italy is against any kind of direct intervention in Ukraine even if it continues to fully support the country which has been invaded by Russia. 

Ukraine’s Kuleba to visit India to advance Kyiv peace plan

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, will visit India this month — the first high-level visit since the Russian invasion — as Kyiv seeks allies for its peace initiative, according to people familiar with the matter.

Kuleba will be meeting Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India’s minister of external affairs, during his visit scheduled for the end of this month, the people said, asking not to be named as the information is not public. The ministers had spoken over the phone in January about the ongoing conflict. 

Ukraine, its Group of Seven allies and a few Global South countries including India had met in December to rally support for Kyiv’s peace plan. The South Asian country has deep ties with Moscow and has not publicly criticised or voted against Russia at the United Nations. 

Read more: Ukraine, Switzerland prepare meeting to push peace formula

Three years into Russia’s war in Ukraine, Switzerland is preparing to host a global peace summit on the conflict at President Volodymyr Zelensky’s request. India has pushed for dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the war. 

Trump says he is ‘100%’ behind Nato allies who hit spending goal

Donald Trump said he would defend fellow Nato allies who have fulfilled their defence spending commitments, amid worries in some foreign capitals over the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s support for the military alliance.

“Yes, 100%,” Trump said in an interview with British politician Nigel Farage on GB News, when asked if the US would be there if Nato allies “start to play fair” over their spending obligations. 

“The United States should pay its fair share, not everybody else’s fair share,” Trump said in the interview, adding that he believed the US had paid a disproportionate share of the cost for the military alliance. 

“It’s more important to them than it is to us. We have an ocean in between some problems. We have a nice big, beautiful ocean.”

Trump, who is facing off with President Joe Biden in a general election rematch, sparked alarm among US allies when he told attendees at a campaign rally in February that as president he warned a Nato leader he would allow Russia to have its way with members that did not meet their defence spending commitments.

“I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want,” Trump said, recounting the conversation with the unnamed leader. “You gotta pay. You gotta pay your bills,” he added.

Nato members have a goal of spending 2% of their respective gross domestic product on defence. 

Trump’s remarks came at a delicate time for the alliance, whose members are struggling to provide fresh support for Ukraine with Russia’s war now in its third year and with many European leaders worried about what a second Trump term could mean for US foreign policy. Trump sought closer ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin in office and at various points in his administration weighed pulling the US out of Nato entirely, regularly harping on the idea of allies not contributing their fair share.

On the campaign trail, he has been a persistent critic of US aid to Ukraine, saying he would push Kyiv to negotiate with Russia. Earlier this month he welcomed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to his Mar-a-Lago resort, praising the fellow populist leader who has urged nations to cut off support for Ukraine and whose autocratic policies have rankled the European Union.

US assistance for Ukraine requested by Biden has been deadlocked in Congress as Republicans seek to extract concessions on domestic immigration policy. Trump pushed Republicans to kill a bipartisan immigration deal that would have unlocked billions in funding. 

Italy’s Meloni against direct military intervention in Ukraine

Italy is against any kind of direct intervention in Ukraine even if it continues to fully support the country which has been invaded by Russia.

Any direct military involvement would “lead to a dangerous escalation”, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Tuesday, echoing a position already shared by other European Union and US allies.

Meloni spoke to legislators ahead of an EU summit later this week centred on aid to Ukraine and the outlook in the Middle East.  

Meloni criticised French President Emmanuel Macron, who has put pressure on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to take a stronger stance, warning of the “existential” threat that Russia poses to the European Union. 

Scholz and the White House swiftly rebuffed the option of Western boots in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned Nato risks a nuclear conflict if it sends troops to aid.

Meloni, a staunch supporter of Ukraine, added on Tuesday that negotiating with Putin was useless: how can one “sit at the negotiating table with someone who has never respected any accords?” DM