Washington– Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel this week to attend a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Sweden, where the United States is planning Reducing troop levels In Europe alongside President Donald Trump’s often inconsistent stance The issue of the alliance has raised concern at a time when the world is grappling with the repercussions of the Iranian war and rising energy prices.
The US State Department said on Tuesday that Rubio will attend a NATO meeting in Helsingborg on Friday, one of the last high-level NATO meetings before the alliance’s leaders meet for a summit in Ankara, Turkey, in July.
Rubio will then travel to India and plans to visit four cities, including Kolkata, Agra, Jaipur and New Delhi, where he will meet Indian officials and is expected to meet with his Indian, Australian and Japanese counterparts, the other three members of the so-called “Quad” grouping of democracies in the Indo-Pacific region.
The State Department said in a statement that Rubio will reiterate in Sweden previous American demands “to increase defense investment and share a greater burden in the alliance.”
She added that he would also focus on Arctic issues and meet with NATO members in the Arctic “to discuss our shared economic and security interests in the Arctic and our strengthened position in the Far North.”
The statement did not mention Greenland by name, but Trump angered the Europeans by constantly talking about his desire to control Danish lands. Trump’s special envoy to Greenland, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, Visited the island this week.
Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens Fredrik Nielsen said on Monday that he had a respectful and positive meeting with Landry, but made clear that the people of Greenland insist on self-determination.
“The people of Greenland are not for sale. Greenland’s self-determination “This is not something that can be negotiated,” Nielsen was quoted as saying by Danish TV Channel 2 after his meeting with Landry.
For Europeans wary of Trump, Rubio’s presence at transatlantic meetings has often been welcomed due to his less aggressive nature and calm demeanor.
He has been sent on several similar missions this year, including to the Munich Security Conference in February, and more recently to Italy, where he met with Italian officials and the pope after Trump criticized the pope for his stances on crime and the Iran war.
Ahead of the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting, the alliance’s top military officer said on Tuesday that he did not expect anything More cuts to US forces From Europe – at least not anytime soon – beyond 5,000 that number Trump He announced that he was leaving the continent.
US Lieutenant General Alex Grynkewich’s comments follow Trump’s surprise announcement of the move early this month. The American leader has risen It argued with its allies over the Iran war and He called for changes.
The Pentagon later said it would withdraw thousands of troops from Europe by canceling deployments to Poland and Germany rather than withdrawing troops already stationed there.
Asked Tuesday about Trump’s plans regarding troop levels in Poland, Vice President J.D. Vance said the administration’s focus is on strengthening “European independence and sovereignty.” He also doubted that the United States was reducing its troop levels in Poland.
“What we did is we delayed the deployment of troops that were headed to Poland,” Vance told White House reporters. “This is not a reduction. It is just a standard delay in rotation that sometimes occurs in these situations.”
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said later Tuesday that it was a “temporary delay” in the deployment of US forces in Poland, which he described as a “model US ally.” He said the delay was the result of the United States reducing the number of brigade combat teams allocated to Europe from four to three, and noted that the Pentagon still needs to determine which forces will be stationed there.
Trump’s announcement caught NATO by surprise and came despite US promises to coordinate military actions with its allies and avoid creating security gaps.
Trump was particularly angry with Germany afterward Chancellor Friedrich Merz He said that the United States was being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership and criticized what he described as “humiliation.” The absence of an American strategy in the war.
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Associated Press writers Lorne Cook in Brussels and Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed.