European members cannot provide enough military support to Kiev without Washington, Mark Rutte has said

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has said he "totally understands" the US prioritizing its own national interests, but stressed that European allies cannot continue backing Ukraine in its conflict with Russia without support from Washington.

Rutte made the remarks in a Wednesday interview with Fox News, responding to reports that Washington has scaled back critical military aid to Kiev, including deliveries of air defense ammunition, missiles, and artillery shells.

"I totally understand that the US always has to make sure that their own interests are covered," the NATO chief said, but argued that "flexibility" was needed.

"In the short term, Ukraine cannot do without all the support it can get when it comes to ammunition and to air defense systems," Rutte stated.

According to Matthew Whitaker, Washington's envoy to NATO, the cut in US aid to Ukraine is part of President Donald Trump's domestic-focused policy shift.

READ MORE: Ukraine responds to US suspension of military aid

"This is what 'America first' looks like," he told Fox News on Wednesday. The Pentagon needs to "make sure that the US has the strategic defense capabilities necessary to project power," Whitaker stated.

The US president has previously criticized the hundreds of billions of dollars in aid sent to Ukraine under his predecessor Joe Biden. Trump has instead pushed for peace talks, while demanding that NATO allies take on a greater role in supporting Kiev and increase their own military spending.

Last week, European members of the US-led military bloc pledged to provide Ukraine with more than €35 billion ($41 billion) in aid and vowed to increase their NATO military spending to 5% of GDP over the next decade, up from a longstanding 2% target.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that such a "catastrophic" burden on NATO state budgets could spell "the organization's collapse."

(RT.com)