Rubio begins with thanks to Sweden for hosting the ministerial meeting.
But that’s where the niceties end as says the upcoming Ankara summit will be “one of the more important leaders’ summit in the history of Nato,” as the leaders will have to respond to Trump’s “disappointment” with the alliance’s “response to our operations in the Middle East.”
“That will have to be addressed, that won’t be solved or addressed today. That’s something for the leaders level to discuss. ”
He notes the US announcement on Poland, but adds “ the United States continues to have global commitments that it needs to meet in terms of our force deployment,. that constantly requires us to reexamine where we put troops.”
“This is not a punitive thing, it’s just something that’s ongoing, and it was pre-existing,” he says.
He says there’s plenty of scope to work with Nato on defence industrial base.
Nato allies. defence officials expressed bewilderment on Friday at US president Donald Trump’s announcement that he would send 5,000 troops to Poland just weeks after ordering the same number of forces pulled out of Europe.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration said it was reducing levels in Europe by about 5,000 troops,. US officials confirmed about 4,000 service members were no longer rotating into Poland from Germany. The dispatch to Germany of US personnel trained to fire long-range missiles was also halted, AP reported.
But in a post on Truth Social on Thursday. Trump said he would now send “an additional 5,000 Troops to Poland,” citing his strong ties with Polish president Karol Nawrocki, whom Trump endorsed in elections last year.
“It is confusing indeed,. not always easy to navigate,” Swedish foreign minister Maria Malmer Stenergard told reporters Friday at a meeting she was hosting of her Nato counterparts, including US secretary of state Marco Rubio.
Ministers from the Netherlands. Norway were relaxed about Trump’s latest move, as was Latvian foreign minister Baiba Braže, who said allies knew the US troop “posture was being reconsidered, and now there is no change of posture. For now.”
Nordic. Baltic foreign ministers in a joint statement said they firmly rejected what they called “Russia’s blatant disinformation campaign and false allegations, supported by Belarus, regarding airspace violations in the Nordic and Baltic region“.
Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations said on Tuesday ( Europe Live, Tuesday ) Moscow had information that Ukraine planned to launch military drones from Latvia. other Baltic states, warning membership in Nato would not protect those countries from retaliation.
It was repeatedly and strongly denied by regional leaders, the EU and Nato.
In a statement published by the Estonian foreign ministry, the Nordic. Baltic foreign ministers said they strongly condemned Russia’s threats to use force against Latvia and other countries in the region, adding that recent drone incidents involving NATO airspace were a direct consequence of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“Russia seeks to divert attention from its illegal war and to intimidate NATO Allies. This will not succeed and must stop immediately.”
Rubio also gets asked about Russia’s repeated allegations against the Baltics with Moscow suggesting – despite repeated strong denials –. they are preparing to work with Ukraine to launch drone attacks against Russia.
He said it was “concerning” as “you always worry about escalation.”
“We understand these countries feel threatened by it, obviously, for obvious reasons. So, it’s a concerning thing, because you always worry that something like that can spark into something bigger,. that’s always a possibility.”
He says the US is “watching it carefully” and “engaged” with Nato on this point.
“We’re concerned about it. because we don’t want it to lead to some broader conflict that can really lead to something far worse. ”
And that ends the briefing.
On the overnight announcement of 5,000 US troops being deployment to Poland. Rubio declines to answer specific technical questions on what it means for the total number of US troops in the country or where they will come from (the reporter’s suggestion being the could be moved from Germany).
He says he will leave it to the Department of War/Defence (pick your preferred version) officials.
On Ukraine, Rubio says the peace talks with Russia. Ukraine were so far “not fruitful, unfortunately,” but the US “stands ready to continue to play that role.”
“If we see an opportunity to pull together talks that are productive, not counterproductive,. that have the chance to be fruitful, we’re prepared to play that role.”
He says the war “will not end with a military victory by one side or the other,” how traditional victories were defined,. he hopes that a solution can be found one day.
The US is ready to be involved,. “we’re also not interested in getting involved in an endless cycle of meetings that lead to nothing.”
Rubio also says there was a separate meeting of the seven Arctic nations on the sidelines of today’s meeting. although it did not cover Greenland.
He says there will be a joint statement coming soon.
But he says “there’s a growing commitment to make it a regular part of our engagements as Nato is to focus on Arctic security.”
“It’s great to see that other countries are a part of this effort now,. that it’s going to play a more prominent role.”
He says after today’s meeting of foreign ministers. there could “potentially” be “a leaders’ level meeting at some point on this as well.”
He is generally very positive on this point.
Rubio says he doesn’t set the timeline for reducing the number of US troops in Europe,. “it has been an ongoing process that started from the first day of this administration.”
He insists “ none of this is surprising, ” although says that he “understands why it creates some nervousness.”
“But I think there’s a broad recognition. there are going to be eventually less US troops in Europe than there has historically been for a variety of reasons,” he says.
But he points out that “the Germans did not freak out” after the plans to pull out 5,000 troops were announced, “because they knew it just took us back to the 2022 numbers,. it was … a reduction of less than 11 or 12% of our total presence there.”
On Ukraine, Rubio says Kyiv is “getting more support than ever” through the PURL programme.
He then pivots to discuss his role at this meeting more broadly and the upcoming summit in Ankara.
“Look, my job here today was to come. set the stage for what will hopefully be a successful leaders meeting in Ankara in about six weeks. I think we all know what the situation here is. Number one is like always –. this is not new, if you go back 30 years, there’s never been a time in which there hasn’t been a debate in American politics about what [that] – our presence and our contribution to Nato should be and that is always driven by what is the value of Nato to the United States.”
“ I understand Nato’s valuable to Europe, and it should be. It also has to be valuable to the United States, so we always have to make that argument in every administration, in every era,. that’s what we’re in the process of doing now, is explaining, you know, this is the value of Nato to the United States, related to that, is what our force posture is within that alliance, what our contributions are.”
He expressed his frustration with the use of some bases denied to the US during the Iran war. saying “then you question whether that value is still there.”
“So that’s going to have to be discussed. There’s no doubt about it.”
He also says there will be a debate on defence spending, as some countries “are still lagging.”
“In the end, the goal is to have a Nato that is strong,. the stronger our Nato allies are, the stronger Nato is going to be.”
Rubio also gets pressed on the US involvement in the Nato Force Model. which is essentially the alliance’s framework for making forces available in case of a crisis.
He heavily suggests there will be adjustment and changes there, but declines to reveal what they will be.
He says “it ties back to the same conversation,”. “I think there’s going to be some announcements on it later today, if it hasn’t come out already.”
But he says it’s not really new,. it’s just part of the broader process of the US re-evaluating its commitments around the world and the best structure to respond to that.
“I will let the folks in the Department of War. over at Nato make those announcements, but this is not a decision that was made on the back of a napkin,” he says.
He insists “ this is all technical work that’s being done by military people.”
“These are not political decisions.”
Asked about the potental future US adjustments to their military presence in Europe, Rubio says:
“I think what’s happening now is that any decision that’s announced or made is viewed through the broader context of some of the frictions that we’ve had in recent months, but at the end of the day, I think it’s well understood in the alliance that the United States troop presence in Europe is going to be adjusted, that that work was already ongoing,. it’s been done in coordination with our allies.
I’m not saying they’re going to be thrilled about it, but they certainly are aware of it. You know. we have obligations in the Indo-Pacific, we have obligations in the Middle East, we have obligations in the western Hemisphere, so this has been an ongoing process, it shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody.”
Rubio is now briefing the media after today talks.
I will bring you all the key lines here.
Asked about potential further US troops reductions in Europe – with the journalist using the example of Italy – Rutte says it’s important that the US is “pivoting” “over time, … in a structured way,”. generally he can’t even really tell us too much as it’s a US decision.
“The overall deterrence. defence in Europe has to stay the same, because we are facing the Russian threat, we all acknowledge this,” he stresses.
The rest of his answer is essentially waffling very general.
And that wraps up the press conference.
Asked about Russian shadow fleet ships, he again says it’s all confidential. he can’t say too much about it, but insists the renewed push to counter the fleet makes “the Russians take note of this, and that it is big, big irritant to them.”
Rutte gets also asked if Rubio leaves Sweden less disappointed about the allied behaviour over the last few months when it comes to Nato’s response to the Iran war.
Again, he launches into a very lengthy. complex answer, outlining the US frustrations with Nato, but insists most of them have been addressed, and the Europeans “heard” the US points.
Rutte gets asked if he has any update on the planned – or potential – US changes to its readiness to respond to a potential crisis. after suggestions the US could lower its contribution to Nato’s readiness forces, the Nato Force Model.
He gives a really complicated answer,. effectively it boils down to: something is changing behind the scenes, but I can’t tell you what it is.
“What is playing out now, at the moment, at the level of policy directors, is US contribution to the Nato Force Model, so that is a process now ongoing,. hey, we are prepared for this,” he says.
He says it’s obvious the US needs to make sure it has “all the capabilities. all the key enablers are everywhere where we need them” and that leaves more space for European and Canadian allies.
But overall, he says, “this is highly classified, because we don’t want to make anyone any wiser.”
“This is nothing new. Everybody knew this was happening,. it has nothing to do with the fact that the US wants to equalise the burden. It has to do with the fact that they cannot be everywhere at the same time.”
He then gets pushed on this answer and whether he can confirm that there is something changing. He deflects the question, and says it’s all “highly classified.”
Asked about Ukraine, Rutte praises their fight against Russia,. notes that “there are even reports that Ukraine is in net terms regaining territory, not massively, but at least it’s stabilising, and potentially even moving now in the right direction.”
“ I would not be too happy if I was Putin today – I would never be happy if I was Putin -. particularly not the last couple of weeks, because things are not going in the right direction.”
He confirms that Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be invited to join the summit in Ankara.
“I invited him already … He will be there, like in The Hague.”
Rutte gets asked about the meeting today. how it turned out after some pretty fierce disagreements between the members in recent months.
Ever an optimist. he insists it was “a very good meeting,” while cheekily adding that as “this is a democratic alliance, we will always have debates.”
But he stresses “the difference is huge” if you compare to where Nato was two years ago.
He adds that the alliance still needs to keep changing,. “we have to make sure that the summit in Ankara really delivers.”
Asked if Europe should prepare to defend itself without the US, he rejects the premise of the question.
“We are not preparing for that last part of your question,” he says,. also repeats his lines on making Nato stronger through stronger European element.
“What you will see over the coming years is a more equal. as a shift, a credible shift, where the Europeans take this bigger responsibility with the United States firmly anchored in the transatlantic relationship,” he says.
On Ukraine, Rutte just repeats his key lines from yesterday, stressing the need to keep supporting. funding Ukraine and its purchases through the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List.
On Iran. he criticises its actions in regard to the strait of Hormuz, echoing Rubio’s earlier call for all countries to oppose their attempts to restrict freedom of navigation.
And we’re going to Q&A.
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