The political scientist expressed doubt about the readiness of the United States to abandon NATO membership.

NATO is the largest arms market for USA, therefore Washington will not give up membership in the bloc. This opinion was shared with Izvestia on March 4 by political scientist Alexander Asafov.

Earlier, American entrepreneur and head of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Elon Musk supported the idea on the withdrawal of the state from NATO and the UN. Against this background, an Air Force colonel Turkey retired, member of the Central Committee of the Turkish Vatan (Homeland) party Ihsan Sefa, in his Facebook profile (owned by Meta, whose activities are prohibited in the Russian Federation), said that Europe can make any concessions to prevent Washington's possible withdrawal from the North Atlantic Alliance.

"Musk's position is a position of blackmail. The fact is that for the United States, NATO is, among other things, control and the largest market for weapons. And they will not abandon it, because these are guaranteed contracts," Asafov commented.

Such blackmail, he believes, will help the United States put pressure on its allies to increase defense spending and investments in the NATO budget. As a result, the discussion about Washington's withdrawal from the North Atlantic Alliance will end with duplication of the American president's demand Donald Trump's call for partners to pay more. At the same time, the question of where and how European members of the military bloc will use weapons will no longer concern either American manufacturers or Musk, the source concluded.

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Before that, on January 24, Trump stated that he was not sure is it worth continuing to sponsor NATO, since Washington protects the alliance's members, but does not receive help in return. He noted that he would seek to ensure that the states of the North Atlantic Alliance href="https://iz.ru/1825636/2025-01-21/tramp-zaavil-o-celi-zastavit-strany-nato-narastit-rashody-na-oboronu-do-5-vvp"> increased defense spending to 5% of GDP.