By Sabine Siebold and Andrew Gray
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -NATO chief Mark Rutte and the new U.S. ambassador sought to reassure European allies on Thursday that Washington will remain committed to the Western military alliance despite harsh words from President Donald Trump.
They spoke as NATO foreign ministers gathered in Brussels with Europeans hoping Secretary of State Marco Rubio will dispel doubts about the U.S. stance even with tensions rising over Trump’s steep new trade tariffs.
European belief in the U.S. as the continent’s ultimate protector against any attack from Russia has been severely shaken by Trump’s attempted rapprochement with Moscow and heavy pressure on Kyiv as he seeks to end the war in Ukraine.
In addition, Washington has bluntly told European countries in recent months that it can no longer be primarily focused on the continent’s security and they will have to spend much more on defence.
The Trump administration’s words and actions have raised questions about the future of NATO, the transatlantic bloc that has been the bedrock of European security for the past 75 years.
The U.S. has no plans to immediately withdraw its military presence in Europe, despite its demands that European countries take care of their own defence, Rutte said ahead of the meeting of foreign ministers.
“There are no plans for them to all of a sudden draw down their presence here in Europe,” Rutte said, referring to the U.S., before a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.
“But we know that for America being the superpower they are, they have to attend to more theaters. It’s really logical that you have that debate, and we are having that debate for many years.”
Matthew Whitaker, who started as the United States’ new permanent representative to NATO on Thursday, said he was starting in the job “at a critical moment in the history of the alliance”.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, NATO will be stronger and more effective than ever before,” he said in a statement.
“But NATO’s vitality rests on every ally doing their fair share.”
European ministers are also likely to use the meeting to try to influence the talks Trump has initiated with Russia over the war in Ukraine, which was triggered by Moscow’s 2022 invasion.
A senior NATO diplomat said there was unease among Europeans that they were not yet involved in negotiations that are key for Europe’s security.
“That’s hard to swallow, but that’s a fact of life,” said the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.
(Reporting by Sabine Siebold, Andrew Gray, Lili Bayer, Benoit Van Overstraeten and Bart Meijer; writing by Andrew Gray and Ingrid Melander; editing by Mark Heinrich)
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