'Don't make Ukraine your Afghanistan', ex Nato chief warns Trump

euronews (in English)

Former NATO Secretary General of NATO and Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen spoke exclusively to Euronews on the impending arrival of President Donald Trump and his impact on the Ukraine war and NATO.

Transcript

00:00Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen believes that Ukraine could become

00:07a member of NATO if the war with Russia should end.

00:11In an exclusive interview with Euronews, he invited U.S. President-elect Donald Trump

00:16to avoid Ukraine becoming his Afghanistan.

00:18I have a very clear message to the new president in the U.S., Trump.

00:26I would say to him, don't let Ukraine become your Afghanistan.

00:35Don't let Putin defeat you.

00:38Be a strong leader, seek peace in Ukraine, but a fair, a just and lasting peace that

00:47will guarantee security of Ukraine in the future.

00:52Rasmussen believes that with Trump's support, an end to the war might be possible, but it

00:57would require military support.

01:00Say that we got to get this thing finished.

01:03President Trump does not like to be a loser.

01:08He wants to be the winner.

01:12And to be a winner, you need a good deal.

01:17And a good deal in Ukraine would require some leverage.

01:21You can do that by providing more weapons for Ukraine.

01:26You can do it by lifting all restrictions on the use of those weapons.

01:32So it might well be that Putin would be negatively surprised by President Trump.

01:38One of the crucial negotiating terms would be the future of Ukraine.

01:43And although Russia could see it as a provocation, the former NATO Secretary General thinks that

01:48Ukraine should become a member of the alliance.

01:52A good peace would be a fair and just peace that would be accepted by the Ukrainian people.

02:01The Ukrainian people have suffered so much in blood and treasure that a settlement that

02:08will guarantee security of Ukraine in the future.

02:12And in my opinion, the only ironclad security guarantee would be to allow Ukraine into NATO

02:23and be covered by NATO's Article 5.

02:27He agrees that more investment will be needed to increase NATO security.

02:32Each member must increase GDP spending on the alliance from 2 to 3 percent.

02:38For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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