International USA considers Rubio's participation in Nato meeting unnecessary
Despite the ongoing negotiations on a peace settlement in the Ukraine war, the US government does not consider it necessary for Secretary of State Marco Rubio to attend a long-planned NATO meeting.
02.12.2025, 05:12
SDA
"It would be completely unrealistic to expect him to attend every meeting," said a State Department spokesperson when asked by Deutsche Presse-Agentur why Rubio was not attending the meeting in Brussels. The minister had already taken part in dozens of meetings with NATO allies, according to Washington.
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau had previously announced that he would be attending the talks in the Belgian capital and was on his way there. One of the topics to be discussed at the meeting on Wednesday is further support for Ukraine. Rubio, on the other hand, will take part in - unspecified - meetings at the White House on Tuesday, according to his ministry. The day before, he spoke with his German counterpart Johann Wadephul about efforts to achieve peace in Ukraine, according to a brief statement from the US State Department.
It is highly unusual for a US Secretary of State not to attend a formal NATO foreign ministers' meeting in person. After the first rumors of a cancellation became known, the long-time former NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu (2010-2023) wrote on the social network X that she could not remember anything comparable in recent history. "That would send the wrong signal, especially now, when America should be coordinating even more closely with European allies on Ukraine," she commented.
Mediator role instead of Nato member?
One possible background in Brussels is that at least parts of the US government obviously see NATO as an obstacle to the successful conclusion of President Donald Trump's latest initiative to end the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. The recently leaked draft of a 28-point peace plan contained, among other things, a passage according to which NATO should completely renounce the admission of further members.
In another point, it also seemed as if the USA no longer saw itself as a normal NATO member, but as an outsider. It stated: "A dialog between Russia and NATO will be conducted with the mediation of the United States to clarify all security issues and create conditions for de-escalation in order to ensure global security and increase opportunities for cooperation and future economic development."
Leading European NATO members such as Germany, France and Italy had criticized these passages of the draft text. The Americans then promised that NATO issues would initially be dealt with separately with the allies. The same applies to EU-related issues.
