Payment demands may come at a price for US

The meeting of 29 Western leaders at the NATO headquarters in Brussels that started on Wednesday has once again revealed the rift between the United States and its allies in Europe.

US President Donald Trump was as combative as expected on the opening day of the two-day meeting, tongue-lashing the other NATO members for not spending enough on their own defense and accusing Germany of being captive to Russian energy supplies.

Although who-pays-what has become a familiar feature of NATO summits in recent years, Trump has shaken the alliance to the core, by questioning why the US should pay to defend Europe when its European members are not willing to pay to defend it.