Rubio in scorching seat as he faces European leaders at NATO headquarters

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is visiting NATO’s headquarters in Brussels for a gathering of the alliance’s overseas ministers, placing him on the entrance traces of the Trump administration’s push towards conventional American allies in Europe.

European leaders have been already bracing for a contentious gathering. President Donald Trump’s choice to tug again help from Ukraine amid its efforts to struggle off Russia’s invasion marked a dramatic break with different allies, whereas his choice to interact Moscow in direct, one-on-one negotiations has left the continent’s diplomats again on their heels.

However on Wednesday, shortly earlier than Rubio was set to depart for Belgium, Trump unveiled sweeping new “reciprocal” tariffs — together with a 20% tax on imports from the European Union.

To date, Rubio has declined to deal with the tariff situation head on, however his Canadian counterpart stated the worldwide financial shock made it tough to deal with the assembly’s urgent agenda.

“Clearly we’re passing that message to our American counterparts that it is tough to have these [NATO] conversations within the context of a commerce warfare,” International Minister Mélanie Joly stated in an interview with CNN.

Rubio has additionally tried to skirt one other subject of competition: Trump’s said want to “get” Greenland for the US by any means vital.

Rubio met with Danish International Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen on the sidelines of the NATO ministerial however did not reply to reporters’ questions asking what he would say about Greenland in the course of the session. The State Division additionally made no point out of the Danish autonomous territory in its readout of the engagement.

“Secretary Rubio reaffirmed the sturdy relationship between the US and the Kingdom of Denmark,” State Division spokeswoman Tammy Bruce stated. “They mentioned shared priorities together with growing NATO protection spending and burden sharing and addressing the threats to the alliance, together with these posed by Russia and China.”

Rasmussen later stated his assembly with Rubio was “good” however that whereas Greenland was not on the agenda “for a lot of causes,” he had nonetheless taken the chance “to very strongly object to claims and presidential statements of a imaginative and prescient of buying Greenland.”

It has amounted to a scenario wherein it is not inside the limits of worldwide legislation,” he stated, calling it “an assault on Danish sovereignty.”

“We’ve seen these statements from the president, and we won’t settle for that,” Rasmussen added. “And I made it very, very clear.”

Rubio and Rasmussen’s assembly comes simply days after Vice President J.D. Vance visited Greenland alongside his spouse, Usha Vance, and nationwide safety adviser Mike Waltz.

The second woman was initially scheduled to headline the journey and spend a number of days on the world’s largest island, taking in Greenlandic cultural websites, however the go to sparked backlash from Greenland’s interim authorities and Danish leaders who famous an invite was by no means prolonged.

Within the aftermath, the White Home added the vice chairman to the touring delegation and whittled down the itinerary, shortening the journey to a one-day cease at a distant American army base in northwestern Greenland.

Rubio has taken a extra measured method in his feedback about Greenland than the president, however he nonetheless emphasised what he stated are the urgent U.S. nationwide safety considerations surrounding management of the island.

“This isn’t a joke,” Rubio stated in January. “This isn’t about buying land for the aim of buying land. That is in our nationwide curiosity, and it must be solved.”

At NATO Headquarters on Thursday, Rubio tried to reassure allies that regardless of the president’s combined alerts, the Trump administration nonetheless views the alliance as central to U.S. safety.

“President Trump’s made clear he helps NATO. We will stay in NATO,” he stated.

Nonetheless, Rubio pushed the administration’s message that allies want to extend their protection spending — calling on all the alliance’s members to decide to placing as much as 5% of their annual GDP towards it, a pointy uptick from the earlier 2% benchmark.

“We do need to go away right here with an understanding that we’re on a pathway, a sensible pathway,” he stated. “That features the US that should improve its share.”