Bloomberg: NATO allies questioning Biden's prospects held meetings with Trump officials

US President Joe Biden managed to convince leaders of NATO member states of his fitness for office with a strong speech at the opening of a summit marking the 75th anniversary of the North Atlantic alliance, but it was not enough to quell growing doubts about his chances of winning the US election in November, Bloomberg writes.

"Delegations from across Europe have quietly held meetings with advisers and others associated with Donald Trump, assessing the possibility that he will reclaim the Oval Office.

Most officials who spoke to Bloomberg said they hoped to get a clearer picture of what Trump's victory could mean for an alliance he regularly criticizes. Some tried to see the bright side, arguing that Trump would find it difficult to follow through on his threats to undermine security guarantees for NATO members or to push Ukraine into a hasty peace deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin," the article emphasized.

At the same time, those European officials who had expressed confidence in Biden's re-election hopes as early as this spring were more optimistic in private conversations this week.

Publicly, leaders praised Biden's speech at the opening of the three-day summit Tuesday as confirmation that the 81-year-old president is still energetic and capable of doing his job after a failed debate performance.

At the same time, they have been watching his every move, looking for the next misstep that would further undermine his electoral hopes.

Officials and diplomats said opinion polls show Trump well ahead of Biden, and allies' doubts about his prospects are growing.

At Tuesday's ceremony, some said they watched nervously as Biden hung the medal around the neck of outgoing Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, fearing the U.S. leader might slip up.

In turn, one of the agency's sources warned that the attention paid to Biden was distracting from the summit's key goal of securing continued support for Ukraine.

Reprinted from https://news.am/