Former ambassador: US commitment to NATO is in question

Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Doug Lute said on Sunday that the U.S. commitment to NATO is in question for the first time since the alliance’s creation.

Lute told ABC’S Martha Raddatz on “This Week” that NATO allies believe that “for the first time in 70 years, the U.S.’s rock-solid commitment to the alliance is in question.”

{mosads}Lute’s comments come after President Trump has attacked the alliance on several occasions, saying member nations do not contribute their fair share of military spending.

The former ambassador went on to say the U.S.’s newfound tension with NATO provides Russian President Vladimir Putin with an opportunity to crack the alliance.

“I suspect he sees an opportunity to do what military force alone could never do,” Lute said.

“If he can crack it politically, or if he can provoke internal fissures inside the alliance, then Putin sees an enormous opportunity to achieve a longstanding Russian goal,” he continued.