War with Russia imminent unless Britain and NATO heed Trump’s warning to increase military spending, defence chiefs warn
The US President-elect has threatened to withdraw military aid from a NATO ally under attack if they have not paid their fair share
WAR with Russia could be just round the corner if Donald Trump abandons NATO, military chiefs have warned.
Three ex-British generals and an admiral said the UK together with Europe should heed the warning of a possible Russian invasion after the US-president elect cast doubt on NATO's mutual defence pact.
It comes after British military intelligence issued a chilling warning over Russia's new Armata “super tank” – which is far superior than any other.
Sir Michael Graydon, the former chief of the RAF, said: “If the US leaves Nato, it would be absolutely disastrous and just what Vladimir Putin would like.
“If a situation occurs in the Baltic where we need to take a firm stance, the credibility of this would be lacking without the US. From a security point of view, this may be the wake-up call Europe needs."
He added: “We can expect Trump to be quite serious on this one, he will not forget it.
"If European nations do not raise their game, then there are real concerns over the future of NATO.”
The US spent an estimated £524billion on defence last year, 3.61 percent of its GDP. Of the other 27 NATO countries only Britain, Estonia, Poland and Greece met NATO's target of spending 2 per cent of GDP on defence in 2015. Britain's military spending in 2015-2016 was £34.3billion.
Former head of the army, General Lord Dannatt said: “We’ve seen Donald Trump threaten all sorts of things, we should take that threat seriously.
"From a UK point of view we have to think about increasing our own defence expenditure.
"We should actually realise that Trump means it and states have to do more about their own role in Nato.
"If the US walks away, Nato ceases to exist, almost by definition, so we would have to invent something else. In the context of Brexit that is ridiculous."
General Richard Shirreff, former NATO's deputy supreme allied commander for Europe, said: "We have to hope the rhetoric we heard during the campaign is rapidly replaced by a very sober and serious statement that if there is any question of a NATO member being attacked then Trump will without any hesitation or equivocation come to the defence of the country.
"Anything less would be really bad news for Nato."
Related Stories
Earlier this year, during his campaign to become president, Trump threatened to withdraw military aid from a NATO ally under attack.
The billionaire businessman said he would first consider how much they had financially contributed to the alliance before pitching America’s military might in.
Trump also promised to press his nationalistic “America First” agenda and told the : “We are going to take care of this country first before we worry about everyone else in the world.”
Julian Lewis, chair of the Commons Defence Select Committee, said Trump could leave Europe in a "catastrophically weakened position".
He added: “If Trump means to carry out his threat and turn his back on NATO that would be potentially catastrophic for security and the West. It does not bear thinking about."
Nato has been the cornerstone of Western security since 1949. Its central purpose is set out in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which says an armed attack against one Nato member ‘shall be considered an attack against them all'.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368