U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker told Newsmax on Monday that selling weapons to the alliance for Ukraine in its war with Russian takes the "burden" of Kyiv's defense off American taxpayers.
"In the Oval Office last month, I was there, and President Trump announced this mechanism where our NATO allies would buy American armaments and ammunition and then those allies would provide that to Ukraine," Whitaker said on "National Report." "Obviously, this takes the American taxpayer out of the equation. No longer are American taxpayers bearing the burden of the war in Ukraine.
"Listen, here in Europe, our allies tell us that this war is very important for them. President Trump said, 'If it's important to you, we will make sure that Ukraine can defend themselves and so, if you're willing to buy it, we're willing to sell armaments and ammunition to be provided to Ukraine and their defense.' And that's what's happening."
Whitake stressed that time was of the essence.
"We've been moving with speed and pace on this to make sure that there is no disadvantage on the front line for the Ukrainians, but, at the same time, [Russian President] Vladimir Putin continues to just throw bodies at this and at some point in time the slaughter has to end," he continued. "That's why President Trump is trying to create the conditions through a lot of these mechanisms — whether it's the [nuclear] submarines [the president moved closer to Russia], whether it's the armaments to Ukraine, or whether it is the [economic] sanctions — to bring the Russians to the table and get an enduring ceasefire and end the killing."
President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to travel to Moscow in the middle of the week ahead of the president's Friday deadline for the Kremlin to wrap up its war in Ukraine or face potentially crippling economic sanctions.
Kyiv has reportedly lost more territory, but there is no indication its defenses are in danger of imminent collapse.
When asked if supplying arms to NATO for the Ukrainians weakens America or the defense bloc, Whitaker said, "No, it doesn't."
"In fact, our military and the Pentagon is making sure that we're not ever going to be at a strategic disadvantage," he said. "And you're right — NATO doesn't have a weapons stockpile. It is an alliance of 32 nations that all have equipment and armaments.
"In this case, we are selling American-made, created by Americans through their American jobs. We are selling that equipment to our NATO allies, and then they're providing that to Ukraine. … the alliance is going to be strong. We're seeing Europe stepping up. This is an example of what we accomplished in The Hague, of Europe taking over the primary traditional defense of the European continent, and this is just an example of it."
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.