Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the US has been debating the value of NATO as other countries in the alliance have been denying America’s use of military bases amid the conflict with Iran.
"Our job here today was to come and set the stage for what will hopefully be a successful leaders' meeting in Ankara in about six weeks. I think we all know what the situation here is,” Rubio said. The Secretary of State then said that the US has always debated what its presence and contributions to NATO should be.
“That is always driven by what is the value of NATO to the United States?” he added. Rubio said that he has long been an advocate for NATO because of the ability the US has had to use military bases in foreign countries that are within the alliance. “When some of those bases are denied to you during a conflict we’re involved in, then you question whether that value is still there,” he added.
He also said that the meeting with the other NATO leaders will have to touch on countries that have been lagging in their spending to support NATO. “In the end, the goal is to have a NATO that is strong, and the stronger our NATO allies are, the stronger NATO is going to be,” he said.
The comments from Rubio came during a summit in Helsingborg, Sweden, where country leaders are discussing preparations to lay the groundwork for a NATO summit taking place in Ankara this July. Countries that have denied the US in using their bases in the conflict include Spain and Italy. Others, such as France, have heavily restricted what the US can do at the military bases.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said following the meeting in Sweden, “Today, Ministers discussed how their countries are charting a credible path to the 5%. This means steady and sustained increases in defense investment.”
Rubio posted to X, following the meeting, “In my meeting with @SecGenNATO I underscored that the Alliance must unambiguously commit at the upcoming Ankara Summit to rapidly scale defense production, expand our transatlantic defense industrial base, and turn spending commitments into real warfighting capabilities. A stronger Europe means a stronger NATO."
"Our job here today was to come and set the stage for what will hopefully be a successful leaders' meeting in Ankara in about six weeks. I think we all know what the situation here is,” Rubio said. The Secretary of State then said that the US has always debated what its presence and contributions to NATO should be.
“That is always driven by what is the value of NATO to the United States?” he added. Rubio said that he has long been an advocate for NATO because of the ability the US has had to use military bases in foreign countries that are within the alliance. “When some of those bases are denied to you during a conflict we’re involved in, then you question whether that value is still there,” he added.
He also said that the meeting with the other NATO leaders will have to touch on countries that have been lagging in their spending to support NATO. “In the end, the goal is to have a NATO that is strong, and the stronger our NATO allies are, the stronger NATO is going to be,” he said.
The comments from Rubio came during a summit in Helsingborg, Sweden, where country leaders are discussing preparations to lay the groundwork for a NATO summit taking place in Ankara this July. Countries that have denied the US in using their bases in the conflict include Spain and Italy. Others, such as France, have heavily restricted what the US can do at the military bases.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said following the meeting in Sweden, “Today, Ministers discussed how their countries are charting a credible path to the 5%. This means steady and sustained increases in defense investment.”
Rubio posted to X, following the meeting, “In my meeting with @SecGenNATO I underscored that the Alliance must unambiguously commit at the upcoming Ankara Summit to rapidly scale defense production, expand our transatlantic defense industrial base, and turn spending commitments into real warfighting capabilities. A stronger Europe means a stronger NATO."
