U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on May 22 said that President Donald Trump’s “disappointment” with NATO over the Iran war will be a key issue at what he described as “one of the most important summits in the alliance’s history,” which is expected to take place in Ankara in July.
“The president’s views, frankly disappointment, at some of our NATO allies and their response to our operations in the Middle East, they’re well documented, that will have to be addressed,” Rubio said before meeting his NATO counterparts in Sweden.
He added that the Ankara summit would be “probably one of the more important leaders’ summits in the history of NATO.”
Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration that several NATO allies did not provide sufficient support during the conflict with Iran, particularly regarding access to military bases and operational cooperation.
Trump has threatened he could consider quitting NATO.
He also berated NATO members for not being willing to help open the Strait of Hormuz.
The U.S. president argued that this has raised broader questions in Washington about burden-sharing and NATO’s overall purpose.
In a bid to calm the storm, some European allies have dispatched vessels closer to the region to help in the Strait of Hormuz when the war ends.
Rubio also said that there had been “some slight progress” regarding the situation involving Iran and the Strait of Hormuz.
“There’s been some slight progress, I don’t want to exaggerate it, but there’s been a little bit of movement and that’s good.”
Meanwhile, NATO’s European members scrambled on May 22 to get clarity from Rubio on troop shifts by Washington, as they sought to placate Trump’s ire on Iran ahead of the July summit in the Turkish capital.
Trump left heads spinning as NATO foreign ministers gathered in the Swedish city of Helsingborg by announcing he would send 5,000 troops to Poland, in an apparent reversal of Washington earlier calling off the planned deployment.
The shift was welcomed by NATO chief Mark Rutte and Poland’s foreign minister, but it fueled concerns about a lack of coordination between the United States and its allies.
“It is confusing indeed, and not always easy to navigate,” said Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard.
Trump’s seeming U-turn came after Washington earlier this month abruptly announced it was withdrawing 5,000 troops from Germany following a spat between Trump and Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Rubio insisted that the U.S. decisions on troops were “not punitive” and were due to Washington constantly needing to “reexamine” deployments to meet its global needs.
A string of NATO ministers said that U.S. drawdowns on the continent were widely expected as Washington focuses on other threats and Europe ramps up its defenses.
