US Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized the close ties between the United States and Europe before his departure for the Munich Security Conference.
Marco Rubio/PHOTO: X
“Europe is important to us”Rubio told reporters Thursday. The United States is “deeply connected to Europe, and our future has always been connected and will continue to be. So we just need to talk about what that future will look like”added the US Secretary of State. “The world is changing very fast right before our eyes. The old world is gone – frankly, the world we grew up in – and we live in a new geopolitical era, and this will require everyone to reassess what this new reality means and what our role will be.” he added, quoted by Agerpres.
According to EFE, Rubio also stated that he hopes to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Munich Security Conference and stressed the need to end the war in Ukraine.
“I think he'll be there and there's an opportunity to see him. I think it's on my agenda, I'm not 100% sure, but I'm confident we'll make it.” he said before leaving for Munich, the capital of Bavaria.
Earlier in the week, US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker rejected the conclusions of the report ahead of the Munich Security Conference, which warned that the main threat to the liberal international order comes from the Trump administration's changes in approach to US alliances.
“It's the first thing I reject: we're trying to strengthen NATO, not withdraw or reject NATO, but make it work as it was designed, as an alliance of 32 strong and capable allies.”
European partners must increase their defense spending and demonstrate that they can “respect the promises made, including NATO's new spending targets of 5% of GDP”he specified.
On the other hand, Washington believes that “there is a lot of talk and little action”, while the US expects that Europe “to grow stronger and share the burden and ultimately take over the continent's conventional defense along with the United States' global nuclear umbrella.”
