The US urges France to take on a leadership role in the defense of Europe. Discussion between the head of the Pentagon and the French counterpart
Pete Hegseth. Photo credit: SOPA IMAGES / SIPA Press / Profimedia
US Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, asked France on Thursday to increase military expenses at a time when transatlantic relations are tense by President Donald Trump's commitment to NATO, AFP reports.
The French Minister of Armed Forces, Sebastien Lecornu, was in Washington for discussions about a wide range of themes, including Iran and the wars in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip.
“The secretary urged France to increase military expenses and, along with other allies, to assume the main responsibility in the conventional defense of Europe,” said Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell.
“Secretary Hegseth and Minister Lecornu also discussed related priorities, including ongoing efforts for a sustainable peace in Ukraine,” said the representative of the American Defense Department.
The visit took place against the background of the tensions that exist between Washington and its European partners because of the commercial war that Donald Trump triggered and the statements made by the US president.
The President of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, accused on Thursday the American emissary Steve Witkoff of “spreading Russian narratives”, after he suggested that a peace agreement with Russia depends on the status of occupied Ukrainian territories.
Donald Trump himself has falsely argued, on several occasions, that Ukraine began the war, and this week he accused Zelenski of bearing responsibility for “millions” of dead.
Trump asked the Allies to increase the defense expenses to 5% of GDP
Donald Trump, who has returned to the US Presidency in January, has long been accusing European allies of getting American protection and does not spend enough for their own defense.
The US Republican leader asked NATO allies to increase the defense expenses, to 5% of the gross domestic product, a level that seems inaccessible to many of them.
Republican and democratic administrations have adopted similar positions in the past, but Trump has gone further than his predecessors, threatening that he will not defend the countries that they consider to pay too little for their own defense.
In the context of the Ukraine war, NATO allies have already increased their expenses in the sector.
The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, told European counterparts this month that he has to agree on a “realistic way” to 5%, which means that Washington will have to allocate more.
US Vice -President JD Vance has arisen a real controversy when he stated that Europe cannot be a “permanent vas in security” for the US, but mentioning France as a nation he considers worthy of a military point of view.
Donald Trump's attempt to put an end to the Ukraine's war has not yet paid off, and the US president expressed his frustration for the refusal of the Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to accept a complete and unconditional armistice.
Despite a series of diplomatic efforts, Russian forces continued to attack Ukraine, and at Sumî, a city in the northeast of the country, they killed at least 35 people in a rocket attack on Flowers Sunday.
The representatives of Ukraine and Kiev allies were on Thursday in Paris for discussions with Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff.
