Pentagon chief says U.S. intolerant of allied nations' dependency

TheUSA will not tolerate unbalanced decisions of its allies that support the unilateral dependence of one country on another. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said this on February 12 at a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) in Brussels.

"The United States will no longer tolerate an unbalanced relationship that encourages dependence," he said, the broadcast published on the YouTube channel of the agency.

At the same time, Hegseth noted that the United States will remain committed to NATO and defense partnerships with Europe. However, the United States intends to provide opportunities for Europe to take responsibility for its own security, the head of the US Defense Department added.

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Earlier in the day, Pavel Feldman, a candidate of political science and professor at the Academy of Labor and Social Relations, told Izvestia that European NATO members will remain defenseless if they lose US support, so they will be forced to agree to the demands of US leader Donald Trump and his team.

In January, the American president said that he was not sure whether to continue sponsoring NATO, as Washington was protecting the alliance members and not getting help in return. That same month, he said he would push for North Atlantic Alliance nations to increase defense spending to 5 percent of GDP.

Then NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte after a telephone conversation with Hegseth promised to increase defense spending of the alliance. At the same time, the bloc's secretary general said that European countries would not be able to ensure their own security without Washington's help.