James Stavridis, a former NATO supreme allied commander, said on Sunday that President Vladimir Putin "may be the best thing that ever happened" to NATO, explaining that the Russian leader's invasion of Ukraine had prompted the West to bolster its defenses.
“I spent four years as supreme allied commander of NATO. At every conference, every meeting of high-level NATO officials, I would find my way to Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and the minister of defense, Ursula von der Leyen," Stavridis said. "And I would say to them, 'You've got to raise your defense spending.' And I got nowhere in four years.
"In 48 hours, Vladimir Putin has inspired the Germans to effectively nearly double their defense budget — a smart move on the part of Germans," Stavridis continued.
"Vladimir Putin may be the best thing that ever happened to the NATO alliance," he told Capehart.
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