President Biden’s speech, in which he rallied NATO members, was all for show, according to a national security adviser to former President Trump, as these nations do not provide enough military assets to defend each other.
“Unless you put 2% of your GDP into defense, some of your systems may not be able to fight in Alliance defense when called upon to do so,” said retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg. said Fox News.
In a Wednesday address to a group of Eastern European nations, Biden stressed the importance of a strong and united NATO. The news came shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his country would no longer be party to a nuclear deal with the US, days before the anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine.
LT. GENE. KELLOGG: ARTICLE 5 OF NATO RELIES ON FUNDING FOR THE DEFENSE OF ALLIES
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Putin “doubts our continued support for Ukraine. He doubts that NATO can remain united,” said Biden in his speech from the Royal Castle in Warsaw. “But there should be no doubt, NATO will not be divided and we will not tire.”
“Article 5 is a sacred commitment that the United States has made,” Biden continued. “We will defend literally every inch of NATO.”
Article 5 stipulates that an attack on any NATO member is treated as an attack on all and requires a concerted response.
“Everybody sort of understands what Article 5 is,” Kellogg said. “An attack on one is an attack on all.”
He said equally important is Article 3, which states that NATO countries must fund their defenses well enough to defend themselves and the collective alliance against attack.
“They go hand in hand,” he said. “They’re both important. They both rely on each other.”
President Biden delivers a speech ahead of Bucharest 9 in Warsaw on the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AP Photo / Evan Vucci)
In 2014, NATO allies met in Whales and pledged to try to increase defense spending to 2% of their GDP and 20% of that amount to modernize their equipment over the next decade to comply with Article 3.
“Most countries haven’t done that,” Kellogg told Fox News. “So they didn’t really comply with Article 3, which affected Article 5.”
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Kellogg said Biden’s message of a strong and united NATO rings hollow because about 20 of the 30 allied countries are unprepared to answer a call for help. He pointed to Germany, France, Spain and Italy as the least prepared.
“If you don’t get to 2% of GDP, you won’t have the military structure and forces to support the rest of the Alliance in enforcing Article 5,” Kellogg said. “They won’t make it because they don’t have the strength.”
“It’s so important that we continue to talk about NATO, its unfunded military establishment, from the bully’s pulpit,” he added. “President Trump has been doing this all along, and they’ve actually started increasing their defense budget.”
Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg said NATO members “could not support” the rest of the alliance without complying with Article 3. (Fox News)
Along with the US, which spends almost 4% of its GDP on defense, the Baltic countries, Poland and the UK are the most poised to act quickly and effectively when Article 5 is invoked, Kellogg said.
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Despite Biden’s comments fueling speculation about whether NATO would get involved in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Kellogg said he doesn’t see it anytime soon.
“It was a distraction because he didn’t come up with a plan to end this war,” Kellogg told Fox News. “I want to know what the policy is to end this war. How are you going to do this? Define that for the American people.”
“Instead he uses rhetoric and talks about Article 5 and NATO, but that doesn’t affect the fight at all,” he said. “Russia will not join NATO. They don’t even have the capacity to advance into the western part of Ukraine, let alone attack NATO, and they understand very well that if Putin does that, it will be the end of Russia.”
To watch the full interview with Kellogg, click here.