Hello....Putin doesn't have a soul.
The Russia of today is very different than the Russia pre-Ukraine Maidan. The Maidan was a turning point for Ukraine and what the world witnessed was a Ukraine President living in lavish circumstances, with a disarmed national military and in it's place militias owned and operated by oligarchs.
When wealthy men, the Russian oligarchs left Russia for Europe, they were looking for freedom to live a life without fear of reprisals. There is nothing Russians have been able to do to reform their government. Today, Russians live under A GROWING OPPRESSION designed and carried out by an extremist Duma and their President that consents to the extremism.
Trump does not see Russia for what it is because his disillusion suits his personal ambitions.
I don't mind NATO members paying their fair share. But, Trump seems to have a problem with what is their fair share. NATO countries carry about 8 percent of the world's population of 603.7 million people. The USA's current population is over half of that total at 325.7 million. That means the population of USA citizens is 54% of the population protected by the NATO alliance.
54 percent. President Trump states the USA is paying 80 percent. Realizing that President Trump covets the billions more income to Europe (which is unspecified by him) the amount each member of NATO pays should be a portion of their "per capita" GDP. Basically, with 54 percent of the people protected by NATO, the $57.466.79 per capita income should dictate the percentage of monies paid to the NATO alliance. The same equation can be assessed by each member country.
Percent of people protected within the alliance X per capita income / total NATO budget. I think that might work. Will the USA still pay 80 percent? Probably not, but, it won't be far from it.
FACT: German reunification, where the wall came down, occurred because NATO stood strong for it.
...The end of the Cold War (click here) was a massive U-turn in international relations. It happened over a very short period of time and was the result of a series of factors – political, economic and military - that culminated in the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. But the fall of the Berlin Wall 9-10 November 1989 marked the radical change in international relations, epitomizing the beginning of a new era. The reunification of Germany that followed was another step forward for Germany and all of Europe....
...With the reunification of Germany on 3 October 1990, Berlin was reinstated as the capital city of united Germany and the Länder of the former German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany in its membership of NATO. Germany had withdrawn from the Warsaw Pact in September 1990, just a few days before German unity.
For decades, NATO support for German reunification had been steadfast and was all the more special that when it happened, the then Secretary General, Manfred Wörner, was the first German to have occupied this the post....
"The Berlin Wall" was deep within East Germany when this occurred. I am confident this reunification is being viewed by North and South Korea as a model for their reunification.
NATO is no minor alliance and should never be treated as such. If the USA deserves some fiscal relief from it's responsibility with the alliance, it is second to maintaining its integrity into the future.
NATO KEEPS THE PEACE. There can be no doubt about that.
