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US NATO Envoy: Trump’s Ukraine Strategy Takes “Burden” Off American Taxpayers
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![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
The United States is moving to ease the financial burden of defending Ukraine by encouraging NATO allies to buy and supply American-made weapons, according to US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker, Newsmax reported on August 4
“In the Oval Office last month, I was there, and President Trump announced this mechanism where our NATO allies would buy American armaments and ammunition and then those allies would provide that to Ukraine,” Whitaker said in an interview. “Obviously, this takes the American taxpayer out of the equation. No longer are American taxpayers bearing the burden of the war in Ukraine.”
“Listen, here in Europe, our allies tell us that this war is very important for them,” he added.
“President Trump said, ‘If it’s important to you, we will make sure that Ukraine can defend themselves and so, if you’re willing to buy it, we’re willing to sell armaments and ammunition to be provided to Ukraine and their defense.’ And that’s what’s happening.”
Whitaker emphasized that speed was critical.
“We’ve been moving with speed and pace on this to make sure that there is no disadvantage on the front line for the Ukrainians, but, at the same time, [Russian leader] Vladimir Putin continues to just throw bodies at this and at some point in time the slaughter has to end,” he said.
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“That’s why President Trump is trying to create the conditions through a lot of these mechanisms — whether it’s the [nuclear] submarines [the president moved closer to Russia], whether it’s the armaments to Ukraine, or whether it is the [economic] sanctions — to bring the Russians to the table and get an enduring ceasefire and end the killing.”
In a further sign of mounting pressure on Moscow, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to travel to Russia mid-week. His visit comes ahead of a Friday deadline set by the president for the Kremlin to halt its war against Ukraine or face potentially severe economic sanctions.
When asked whether arming NATO allies to assist Ukraine weakens the United States or the alliance itself, Whitaker pushed back.
“No, it doesn’t,” he said. “In fact, our military and the Pentagon is making sure that we’re not ever going to be at a strategic disadvantage. And you’re right — NATO doesn’t have a weapons stockpile. It is an alliance of 32 nations that all have equipment and armaments.
“In this case, we are selling American-made, created by Americans through their American jobs. We are selling that equipment to our NATO allies, and then they’re providing that to Ukraine. … the alliance is going to be strong. We’re seeing Europe stepping up. This is an example of what we accomplished in The Hague, of Europe taking over the primary traditional defense of the European continent, and this is just an example of it.”
Earlier, Whitaker said that the United States was considering imposing secondary sanctions and import tariffs on Brazil for its continued purchases of Russian oil products.
