00:00The war in the Middle East has nothing to do with NATO and is not a NATO war.
00:03That's the message from the office of the German Chancellor.
00:06For more on the mood among NATO allies,
00:08your News' correspondent Shona Murray sent us this update.
00:11Well, good morning, Maeve.
00:12And just as we thought the turmoil from last January
00:14when Donald Trump said he wanted to take over Greenland was coming to an end,
00:18Donald Trump, it appears, is trying to draw NATO into his war with Iran
00:22with comments at the weekend saying that NATO would face a very bad future
00:26if it doesn't support Donald Trump
00:28and help sort out the situation with the Strait of Hormuz.
00:30I caught up with the Finnish Foreign Affairs Minister Alina Valtanen
00:34and I asked her about this prospect.
00:36NATO, first and foremost, its purpose is, as the North Atlantic Treaty says,
00:41for the North Atlantic security and therefore that's our top priority.
00:46And also, I mean, NATO is a defensive alliance in any case.
00:52But having said all this, of course, we will be closely scrutinising
00:56together with our partners and allies, so both in NATO,
01:01but also in the European Union, whether there are ways in which we can help
01:06to both have the Strait of Hormuz open up,
01:11but also to make it secure going forward as well.
01:15NATO is a defensive alliance, not an offensive alliance.
01:18So therefore, it can't be dragged into a war of the United States and Israel's making.
01:23Is that what you're saying?
01:25NATO is indeed a defensive alliance and we won't be dragged in into any war of choice.
01:31But having said all this, we, of course, have a collective interest.
01:35And I should say not only within NATO, but as the world to have the oil flowing
01:41and also the situation to de-escalate.
01:45And that is certainly something we are calling for.
01:47OK, so what's then the EU and I guess NATO, but let's say European response going to be
01:52to try to help reopen and keep open the Strait of Hormuz,
01:56given the impact it's having on the global economy and oil prices?
01:59Yeah.
02:00So, well, today in Brussels, but also in the upcoming days,
02:03we will be discussing this with our closest partners and allies,
02:09both within the European Union and in NATO, whether there should be some sort of an operation
02:17which could be there for that purpose that we both keep this Strait open,
02:25not just for now, but also for the future.
02:28But having said all this, it will require very close scrutiny because, for instance,
02:34I can say that for countries like Finland, we as NATO members and securing a very long border
02:41with Russia as well, we certainly need our capabilities first and foremost to deter
02:46the threat of Russia against the entire alliance.
02:50Back a few months ago, there was Greenland.
02:52OK, then you have months before that, all NATO allies saying that they're going to increase
02:59spending to 5% and everyone did that.
03:01And now you have Donald Trump taking away the Russian sanctions against the Kremlin,
03:06which is probably one of the most effective thing that Europe has done.
03:10Now that Putin can get all this money from the oil revenue,
03:13it means he can spend it on the war in Ukraine and actually Russian attacks against NATO territory.
03:18Well, you see, the Russian economy showed some serious cracks earlier this year.
03:23Yeah. And many were of the opinion that finally the sanctions that we have put on do work.
03:32And certainly the sanctions have played a massive role in weakening Russia's fiscal position,
03:38which is good because Russia is using its rubles essentially to fund its war machine.
03:45But now that the oil price has been ticking up and it probably will be staying there for some time,
03:53that certainly helps Russia on a daily basis.
03:57Should Europe say, OK, we will help you, but we need a better deal on Ukraine,
04:01whether it's security guarantees or we need you to take away the tariffs that you've imposed on us
04:06that are really damaging our economies or creating global instability?
04:09Certainly, if there's going to be a decision to be helping out with the Strait of Hormuz,
04:15then certainly there's a lot of leverage that we can also make use of.
04:21But let's rush into conclusions here.
04:25But what has to be said that not only Ukraine, but also Europe have very strong cards,
04:30especially in the long term.
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