Rubio spoke on the sidelines of a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Sweden. He first thanked the host country but quickly turned to the core point of contention: the alliance must confront Trump’s “disappointment” with the “response to our operations in the Middle East.” The summit in Ankara will be “one of the more important summits of heads of state and government in NATO’s history,” Rubio said verbatim.
The question of how the alliance should respond to Trump’s criticism, however, will not be resolved at today’s level of foreign ministers. “That must be discussed at the level of heads of state and government,” Rubio made clear. This shifts the decision to the NATO summit planned for June in the Turkish capital.
Behind the tensions lies Trump’s repeated demand for greater European NATO partners’ military involvement in US-led operations, particularly in the Middle East. The US recently increased its troop presence in Poland, which surprised some alliance partners. Rubio himself had previously reaffirmed Trump’s “disappointment and frustration” with Russia in connection with the Ukraine peace talks.
EuroPulse reported on May 22, 2026, on Trump’s health policy, which places US interests ahead of global solidarity (link).
Source: www.theguardian.com
