President of the U.S.A Joe Biden allegedly prevented the British Secretary of Defense to Ben Wallace become the next Secretary General of NATO after London began to promote the idea of training Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 without the approval of Washington. The publication writes about it Telegraph citing an unnamed Alliance source.
The material said that Wallace was allegedly the favorite to replace Jens Stoltenberg as head of NATO later this year, but failed to garner support from Washington amid “tensions” over Britain’s military support for Ukraine.
According to journalists, the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak “lobbied heavily” for Wallace during a meeting with the US President in Washington.
Biden later said at a press conference that there was a “very qualified person” in the UK for the position, but did not offer his support.
Washington was dismayed when the UK announced plans to train Ukrainian pilots and form an international effort to arm them with American F-16 aircraft without his support.
According to a NATO media source, London’s move supposedly “put an end to any remaining hope” of the Defense Secretary for a “victory” over Biden.
Jens Stoltenberg became NATO Secretary General in 2014. In 2019 and 2022, Stoltenberg’s term of office was extended. In February 2023, it was reported that NATO believes that Stoltenberg’s powers should be extended again, but he himself does not want this and intends to leave the post, as planned, in October 2023. On June 16, Stoltenberg once again stressed that he did not want to remain NATO Secretary General after the end of his term. At the same time, according to the media, Biden allegedly personally persuaded Stoltenberg to remain the Secretary General of the Alliance. On July 4, Stoltenberg’s powers were extended until October 1, 2024.
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2023-07-05 17:19:00
