If the roles were reversed and Russia was cozing up to countries near the US, like Canada, it's certain the US would react strongly. Yet, everyone seemed to expect Russia to remain passive as they encroached on their territory. In the end, both sides share the blame for this mess. It's like a game of chicken where nobody wants to blink first, but everyone ends up getting hurt.

Haley, 52, the former US Ambassador to the UN, said that if former US president Donald Trump is re-elected, a threat to the NATO alliance is one of the things she is worried about.

Speaking at a rally in Conway, South Carolina, Trump recounted a story he has told before about an unidentified NATO member who confronted him over his threat not to defend members who fail to meet the trans-Atlantic alliance's defence spending targets.

At a separate press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said his country would respond to the attack on its soldiers in Jordan. US troops long have used Jordan, a kingdom bordering Iraq, Israel, the Palestinian territory of the West Bank, Saudi Arabia and Syria, as a basing point.