LONDON, April 2 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to halt weapon supplies for Ukraine to pressure European allies into joining a "coalition of the willing" to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the Financial Times reported Wednesday, citing officials familiar with the matter.
Trump demanded that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) navies help reopen the strategic waterway last month after it was effectively closed amid the escalating conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran.
Several European capitals reportedly rebuffed the request, saying such a move would be impossible while the conflict was ongoing, with some officials arguing that the confrontation was "not our war."
The FT said Trump then threatened to suspend supplies to PURL, NATO's weapon procurement initiative for Ukraine, funded by European countries.
It also reported that at the urging of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, a group of countries, including key alliance members France, Germany and Britain, issued a statement on March 19 which said, "We express our readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait (of Hormuz)."
The newspaper said that one official briefed on the discussions indicated Rutte had pushed for the joint statement after Trump threatened to pull out of PURL and scale back broader support for Ukraine.
French Minister Delegate for the Armed Forces Alice Rufo said Wednesday that NATO is a military alliance focused on the security of territories in the Euro-Atlantic area and is not intended to conduct operations in the Strait of Hormuz.
Her remarks came after Trump's statement that he is strongly considering pulling the United States out of NATO after the alliance failed to join the attacks on Iran. He also described the alliance as "a paper tiger," British newspaper The Telegraph reported on Wednesday.
In response to Trump's threat to withdraw from NATO, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday said Britain would act in its national interest and would not change its position on the Iran war. ■