Former NATO Chief Urges Europe to Work With Trump to End Ukraine War

Former NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg urges Europe to boost defense spending and strengthen transatlantic ties as Trump returns to power.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (L) and President Donald Trump shake hands in the Oval Office at the White House on April 2, 2019. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has urged European leaders to step up their defense spending commitments to keep the transatlantic alliance strong in the face of threats, and to support President-elect Donald Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

Stoltenberg, who led NATO from 2014 to 2024, wrote in a Nov. 9 op-ed in The Financial Times that European nations have a crucial role to play in maintaining the integrity of the transatlantic defense pact, particularly in light of Trump’s renewed calls for burden-sharing within the alliance.