Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell that former President Donald Trump is “right” that European countries must pay the cost of the Russia-Ukraine War.
Mitchell attempted to get the Polish foreign minister to criticize Trump for calling to withhold aid for Ukraine and allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade any European country that is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that does not contribute financially.
“What would you say to Donald Trump, who actually said that he would encourage Putin to go into NATO countries who don’t pay their fair share,” Mitchell asked Wednesday.
“Well, we hope that’s just flowery rhetoric. He’s right that we should be spending more in Europe. Poland is spending well over 3% of GDP [gross domestic product] on defense and we’ve placed $50 billion worth of defense, orders in the United States,” Sikorski said.
Trump said at a rally in North Carolina that he had threatened to withhold aid from Ukraine during a conversation with a NATO ally and would “encourage” Putin to do as he wishes if NATO countries do not pay their fair share. (RELATED: ‘Morning Joe’ Panel Blames Trump For War In Ukraine)
“‘You didn’t pay? You’re delinquent?'” Trump claimed to have said. “‘No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay. You gotta pay your bills.'”
Mitchell asked about Putin potentially invading Poland, a NATO ally to the U.S. Sikorski said it has been done historically, and that Putin can end this war immediately.
Trump said in 2019 that he withheld $391 million in military aid to Ukraine because NATO countries did not pay their fair share. This subject came up during a phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, where he spoke to him about investigating then-presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who served on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma.