Concrete NATO commitments will ease Trump's frustration, Pavel Says

Concrete results and firm commitments from NATO's European allies will help ease U.S. President Donald Trump's frustration with the alliance, Czech President Petr Pavel told The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). According to Pavel, the White House chief is growing impatient with allies who offer plenty of promises but little action. Ahead of Wednesday's NATO summit in Ankara, Trump sharply criticised the alliance, arguing that the United States contributes a disproportionately large share of its resources.

"I believe what makes Donald Trump impatient is hearing a lot of words without seeing any action. Once he sees that things are genuinely changing and that there are concrete results and concrete commitments, his concerns will ease somewhat," Pavel told the WSJ.

According to the newspaper, Europe and Canada hope to reassure the U.S. president by demonstrating renewed determination to make NATO more combat-ready and more lethal. Some European officials, however, are less optimistic than Pavel about the chances of satisfying Trump.