Elon Musk, the billionaire who heads the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), agrees that “it’s time [for the US] to leave NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] and the UN [United Nations].”
Musk’s comment came as fears grow over whether the US will continue to support NATO. Meanwhile, war-torn Ukraine is fighting tooth-and-nail to join the organisation — one of the things Russia’s Vladimir Putin strongly opposes.
Here’s all you need to know about NATO, what it means for the US and What happens to Ukraine if US leaves NATO:
What is NATO?
NATO has 32 member countries. The US was among the original 12 founding members who signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, D.C., in 1949. Many Eastern European countries joined NATO after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Finland (April 2023) and Sweden (March 2024) are the latest to join..
According to BBC, NATO’s primary purpose was to block expansion in Europe by the former Soviet Union — a group of communist republics which included Russia. NATO members agree that if one of them is attacked, the others should help defend it.
As per the organization’s website, the purpose of the NATO or North Atlantic Treaty Organization is to guarantee the freedom and security of its members through political and military means.
It “promotes democratic values and enables members to consult and cooperate on defence and security-related issues to solve problems, build trust and, in the long run, prevent conflict,” according to the website.
NATO is further committed to “the peaceful resolution of disputes.” The website explains that if diplomatic efforts fail, NATO has the military power to undertake crisis-management operations.
“These are carried out under the collective defence clause of NATO’s founding treaty – Article 5 of the Washington Treaty or under a United Nations mandate, alone or in cooperation with other countries and international organisations,” it says.
Why isn’t Ukraine a NATO member?
It’s feared that Ukraine joining NATO could upset Russia, which believes that the move would bring NATO forces too close to its borders. Russia was part of the former Soviet Union — NATO’s rival.
President Donald Trump had also put his weight behind Russia’s attempt to block Ukraine’s NATO membership, saying Kyiv could “forget about” joining the military alliance as he prepares to host President Zelenskyy at the White House on Friday.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had recently said that “the US does not believe that Nato membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement”.
Ukrainian President Zelensky later said he was prepared to “give up” his presidency if it meant Ukraine could join NATO. “If to achieve peace you really need me to give up my post, I’m ready…”I can trade it for Nato membership, if there are such conditions,” he said.
US to quit NATO?
The Trump administration’s decision to shift its stance in favour of Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine has cast doubt on US’ long-term commitment to both European security and NATO itself.
Trump called Ukrainian President Zelensky a “dictator without elections” and said Zelensky “should never have started” the war and that he “could have made a deal.”
The US President also rebuked Zelensky during a “shouting match” at the Oval Office in front of the media over a peace deal in the Russia-Ukraine war. This fiasco at the White House left the diplomatic relationship between the US and Ukraine in tatters.
Besides, Trump has a long history of denigrating NATO. Senior administration officials told The New York Times that several times over the course of 2018 (in his first term), Trump privately said he wanted to withdraw from the NATO.
Besides, Elon Musk’s comment on X about US “leaving the NATO” has added fuel to the fire.
What US ‘leaving’ NATO could mean?
A move to withdraw from the alliance, in place since 1949, “would be one of the most damaging things that any president could do to US interests,” said a former US government official Michèle A. Flournoy was quoted by the New York Times as saying in 2019.
“It would destroy 70-plus years of painstaking work across multiple administrations, Republican and Democratic, to create perhaps the most powerful and advantageous alliance in history,” Flournoy said in an interview. “And it would be the wildest success that Vladimir Putin could dream of,” he had said.
Meanwhile, retired Adm. James G. Stavridis, the former supreme allied commander of NATO, had then conteded that an American withdrawal from the alliance would be “a geopolitical mistake of epic proportion.”
NATO chief Mark Rutte told BBC this week that the US was very invested in the military alliance, including in its mutual-defence clause Article 5.
When asked whether NATO allies would be capable of filling the gaps should the US withdraw its military support from Ukraine, NATO chief Mark Rutte replied: “Let’s move beyond this question. It is crucial that we stay all in this together — the US, Ukraine, Europe, that we bring Ukraine to a peace, this is exactly what President Trump is fighting for, what we all are fighting for.”
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned in an interview with NBC that if the US decides to leave NATO, “The risk that Russia will occupy Europe is 100 percent.” President Donald Trump has frequently threatened to leave the alliance.
What happens to Ukraine if US leaves NATO
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch told BBC, “If we don’t have an American security guarantee within NATO, if we lose them, we’re going to be spending a hell of a lot more (on defence).”
“We need to make sure that America does not disengage, it is in their interest for peace now, if we all get dragged into an escalation, America will get dragged into it eventually,” she added.
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said he told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that he had to “find a way to restore his relationship with the American president” after the two leaders engaged in an extraordinary meltdown at the White House on Friday.
“I said: I think you have to find a way, dear Volodymyr, to restore your relationship with Donald Trump and the American administration. That is important going forward,” Rutte told the BBC, commenting on a call he had with Zelensky on Friday.
