“Dangerous” and “irresponsible” characterized the US ambassador to NATO Julian Smith making statements like those made by Donald Trump encouraging Moscow to attack countries that do not meet their defense spending obligations in the North Atlantic Alliance.

Mrs Smith speaking to correspondents in Brussels ahead of the NATO Defense Ministers Summit, on February 15 pointed out that “the Kremlin’s encouragement to attack any NATO ally or Alliance territory really puts our soldiers, US soldiers and our Allied soldiers at greater risk. Doing so, making these kinds of statements, is dangerous and, frankly, irresponsible.”

In relation to Sweden’s accession to NATO, the American ambassador emphasized that the US position on this was clear from the beginning and the desire is to join as soon as possible by calling Hungary to proceed with the proceedings.

“We have sent a message to all Allies from the beginning of the process that Sweden is a partner that is ready to join the Alliance. Sweden fundamentally shares all our values. It has been an incredibly active partner conducting training and exercises alongside NATO Allies and is poised to bring real capability and significant capabilities once it becomes a full partner. So we want to see Sweden’s membership finalized as soon as possible. We were happy to see our friends in Turkey complete the ratification process just a few weeks ago and we urge our friends in Hungary to do the same as soon as possible,” he noted.

Julian Smith was also asked about the timing of Jens Stoltenberg’s succession process, but also about the possibility of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte taking over the post of secretary-general.

Jens Stoltenberg “has decided that he will step down as Secretary General later this year, towards the autumn of 2024. For this reason, we are currently in a process in NATO where we are starting to move towards the selection of the future Secretary General . I think the Allies are interested enough to complete the selection process probably the first quarter of this year, to the extent that this is possible” said the ambassador.

He added that he has no say in relation to who will be chosen. “I don’t think it’s a secret, though, that we’ve heard from Prime Minister Rutte himself that he’s expressed an interest. So this is a person the Alliance is looking at. But it’s an ongoing process,” Smith said, adding that she expects the epilogue to be written “in the coming months.”