Smardan, Romania — This week, approximately 10,000 troops from NATO’s Allied Reaction Force (ARF) conducted exercises near Romania’s border with Ukraine to practice their response to a sudden attack from a potential adversary such as Russia. The live-fire drills included tanks, fighter jets, bomb disposal teams, and attack helicopters, while medical teams set up mobile hospital facilities.
Nine allied nations took part in the prolonged exercise known as Steadfast Dart 25, which involved significant and swift movement of personnel and equipment across the European continent, thanks to close coordination among the allied forces.
While the United States was not one of the nine participating countries, its longstanding role as the backbone of the NATO alliance was a key topic among reporters attending a demonstration of the ARF’s capabilities on Wednesday. This occurred just hours after President Trump assigned blame to Ukraine, specifically its President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for the war initiated by Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
“Intense” talks in Kyiv amid Trump-Zelenskyy tension
Mr. Trump criticized Zelenskyy as an ineffective leader, even labeling him a “dictator,” while the Ukrainian president stated that the American leader was operating within a “disinformation space” perpetuated by Russia. Ukraine has expressed frustration at being excluded from the Trump administration’s initial discussions with Russia, which Mr. Trump claims are progressing well and could lead to a ceasefire agreement, suggesting that only Zelenskyy is obstructing this outcome.
Retired U.S. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Mr. Trump’s envoy to Russia and Ukraine, visited Kyiv this week and had meetings with Zelenskyy and other key officials. Although a joint press conference with Ukrainian leaders was expected on Thursday, Kyiv announced that it had been canceled. However, in a social media update, Kellogg adopted a different tone than Mr. Trump.
Kellogg described his day as “long and intense,” noting that his discussions with Zelenskyy, “the embattled and courageous leader of a nation at war and his talented national security team,” were “extensive and positive.”
In response to his own social media post, Zelenskyy concurred on the intensity of the talks, stating that his meeting with Kellogg “restores hope, and we need strong agreements with the U.S. — agreements that will truly work. I have instructed my team to work quickly and very sensibly.”
“We follow the orders of our duly elected officials.”
U.S. Navy Admiral Stuart Munsch, commander of JFC Naples, one of NATO’s three Joint Force Commands responsible for managing the Allied Defense Force, was present in Romania to oversee the exercises. When questioned about Mr. Trump’s shifting stance away from American support for Ukraine to align with longstanding Russian narratives regarding the conflict, he responded.
“Your president believes that Ukraine essentially invited the war. Do you consider it an unprovoked invasion, and why do you disagree with your president?” a British journalist inquired during a news conference.
“NATO comprises 32 countries, and it is NATO’s position that the invasion was unprovoked,” Munsch answered.
The U.S. and Canada remain the only non-European members of NATO, which was established in 1949 after World War II. The alliance has been crucial in ensuring peace in Europe since then, primarily due to the collective defense clause in Article 5 of NATO’s founding charter, which states that an attack against one ally is treated as an attack against all.
“As a political and military alliance, our actions at NATO directly enhance the security, prosperity, and freedom of the people within the United States and every ally,” the U.S. mission to NATO states on its website. “NATO promotes democratic values and fosters collaboration and consultation on defense and security matters to build trust and, over time, prevent conflicts. NATO is committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes, but if diplomatic efforts fail, it possesses the military capabilities to manage crises.”
Mr. Trump has consistently contended that the U.S. has disproportionately shouldered the costs of what he perceives as European defense, urging NATO allies to contribute more financially.
“The entire NATO alliance is fundamentally structured around the United States,” Max Bergmann, director of the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program and the Stuart Center in Euro-Atlantic and Northern European Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told CBS News. “All NATO planning relies on the U.S. … the other members align themselves as extensions, but it is the U.S. that lays the groundwork for defense and coordination among European nations.”
However, Bergmann notes that this is how the U.S. has historically encouraged the alliance’s operational dynamics.
“The U.S. has approached Europe by saying: ‘We want you to invest more while remaining entirely dependent on us,'” Bergmann explained. “Over the last decade, Europe has increased its spending and extended considerable aid to Ukraine. Yet, they have not taken substantial measures to organize themselves toward independence. Now, with the Trump administration suggesting a withdrawal, the situation grows complex.”
Amidst signs that the White House is reconsidering NATO’s significance to U.S. national security, Bergmann comments that there is a “genuine sense of betrayal felt on both sides of the Atlantic, and in Europe, the view is that while they rely on the U.S. for defense, they also acknowledge a need to do more. However, this is also how the United States has historically preferred the situation to be.”
At the NATO exercise in Romania, CBS News inquired with Munsch, who was present in his capacity as a NATO commander, about the evident discrepancy between the White House’s messaging and the united stance of the alliance.
“There are ongoing discussions at the national level,” Munsch replied. “No decisions have been made yet, so I am currently following the orders I’ve been given.”
He affirmed that operations would continue as usual unless new directives were issued.
“That’s how it always works, right?” Munsch remarked. “We follow the orders of our duly elected officials.”
