By mentioning Russia threat at NATO summit, Trump tried to prompt allies to meet financial obligations - Ushakov
MOSCOW. May 26 (Interfax) - United States President Donald Trump's remark mentioning Russia as a threat at the NATO summit was aimed at encouraging the other member states to fulfill their financial obligations to the alliance, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said.
"The mentioning of Russia can be regarded, among other things, as a way to prompt allies to fulfill their obligations to contribute relevant sums to NATO's budget," Ushakov told journalists on Friday, when asked how Moscow saw Trump's assertion that Russia is a threat to NATO and whether Moscow's attitude towards him was changing.
"As for the political situation surrounding the so-called Russiagate in Washington, our president chose a very good word in characterizing this last week. The manners that unfortunately prevail among the Washington political elite are, of course, annoying, regrettable, bewildering. Whatever you like," Ushakov said.
"Trump made a lot of attention-grabbing statements during his trip to the Middle East and European countries," Ushakov said, noting that strong remarks were also made about U.S. allies in NATO.
"In my view, it is these statements [about allies] that attracted the most attention," Ushakov said.
