U.S. national security strategy is big middle finger to Europe — Gen. Hodges

American military commander General Ben Hodges expressed this opinion in an interview with Antin Borkovskyi.

"The national security strategy published by the U.S. administration looks to me like a big middle finger to Europe. It essentially says: Europe, you're on your own. And although it's not stated directly, the subtext is that Europe is now in Russia's sphere of influence.

The U.S. defines the Western Hemisphere - North, Central, and South America - as its sphere of influence, and we see this in their actions in the Caribbean against Venezuela, talks about Greenland or Canada - these are all indicators. This is also evident from how the administration is reorganizing the Department of Defense and deploying forces," Hodges commented.

According to him, it appears that the U.S. administration has essentially told Europe regarding Russia: deal with it yourselves. The U.S. will be interested in transactions, but it's difficult to understand how committed the United States is to NATO.

"As for China, it follows from the administration's actions and words that they're not ceding the Pacific Ocean to China, but I think the expectation is: as long as the U.S. can trade and operate in the Pacific Ocean, I don't think the U.S. will be ready to fight for Taiwan, for example. That's how it feels, this new policy and how the U.S. administration sees the world now," the general concluded.

• On Friday, December 26, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he had agreed with White House chief Donald Trump on a meeting that will take place in the coming days.