US: Europe to lead Nato to deter Russia, help Ukraine

The Trump administration expects Europe, not the US, to lead the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, marking an apparent shift in Washington's stance toward the 76-year transatlantic alliance, Bloomberg reported.

- Agencies

The US will continue to fulfill its obligations to the alliance, Hegseth said on Wednesday in Brussels, but also expects other countries to bolster their own defences.

“We remain clear-eyed about the fact the most effective deterrents to Russian aggression are: number one, a lethal, capable, and European-led Nato, and number two, a combat-credible Ukrainian military able to defend itself and thereby continue to deter Russian aggression along Nato’s border,” he said at a gathering of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which coordinates military support to Kyiv.