OSLO: From stroking US President Donald Trump’s ego to a “Finnish solution” for peace in Ukraine, former Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg opens up about his decade as head of the alliance in a new memoir.
He cited as an example Finland, which gave up 10pc of its territory as part of a peace deal with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin during World War II.
In “On My Watch” launched on Monday in Norway, Stoltenberg revealed behind-the-scenes details of a 2018 Nato summit when Trump, during his first term, threatened to walk out due to a number of European countries’ failures to meet Nato’s two percent defence budget target.
“I’m leaving this meeting. There’s no reason for me to be here anymore,” an angry Trump said, especially annoyed by Germany under then-chancellor Angela Merkel, which was far from the target.
In a bid to get the US leader to stay, Mark Rutte — at the time Dutch prime minister — pointed out to Trump that European countries had in fact increased their defence spending by 33 billion euros ($39 billion) the previous year.
“After a while, Trump took out the thick black marker he always used, jotted something down on a sheet of paper, then leaned over and handed me the note,” Stoltenberg wrote.
“The note said: ‘Secretary General, if you can say that the Nato allies have significantly increased their defence spending thanks to me, then I think we can agree’,” he added.
Stoltenberg complied, enabling Trump to claim a victory and, in so doing, reducing the risk of Washington withdrawing from Nato.
Stoltenberg, Nato chief from 2014 to 2024, also revealed how he had pushed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to consider ceding land to Russia in a bid to end the war.
Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2025
