UN Secretary-General: Member states will not agree to support Ukraine with a quarter of their GDP
¬ Former NATO Secretary-General: Europe should produce drone engines, not car engines
¬ Former NATO Secretary-General believes Trump overly admires Putin
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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on May 21 that NATO member states would not agree to use a quarter of their annual GDP to purchase weapons for Ukraine.
In a joint press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Stoltenberg said: "I made a proposal, but did not receive unanimous support."
Stoltenberg also noted that the proposal sparked debate within NATO over whether each member state should make equal contributions to supporting Ukraine.
Stoltenberg had previously proposed that NATO members commit to continuous military aid to Kyiv.
Russia argues that supplying weapons to Ukraine hinders conflict resolution and directly involves NATO member states in the conflict.
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Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen stated that Europe should retool its automobile factories to produce drone engines instead of car engines.
Speaking at the Globsec Forum in Prague, Rasmussen said: "People ask me if Europe can produce more—well, we have an obligation to produce more. For example, the European automotive industry has massive excess capacity. Why not utilize this surplus capacity to produce military equipment? In other words, we should produce drone engines rather than car engines." The Globsec Forum was livestreamed on YouTube.
Rasmussen believes Europe has too many defense companies, all of which are too small, and that the defense market is overly fragmented, with excessive variety in weapon systems and ammunition.
Rasmussen further stated: "We truly need to rationalize everything, which makes me think we need to bring the European economy into a wartime state."
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Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that U.S. President Trump overly admires Russian President Vladimir Putin.
During a discussion at the Globsec Forum in Prague between Rasmussen and former U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Rasmussen asked: "By the way, could anyone explain to me why Trump has such a fondness for Putin? He frequently quotes Putin to pressure Zelenskyy and Europe—why does Trump admire Putin so much?" The Globsec Forum was livestreamed on YouTube.
Esper, in his response, shifted to another topic and did not directly answer Rasmussen's question.
Source: sputniknews
Original: toutiao.com/article/1865838759350343/
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