Trump Sending Rubio to Turkey For Informal NATO Talks on Ukraine, Burden Sharing
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is heading to Antalya on Wednesday to meet with his NATO counterparts in an informal setting, with the focus on Ukraine and other key security priorities, as well as to reiterate need for transatlantic burden sharing, Kyiv Post’s Washington correspondent, who will be covering the trip, reports.
“Looking towards the NATO Summit in The Hague this June, the Secretary [Rubio] will advance President [Donald] Trump’s agenda of ensuring that our Allies contribute their fair share to making NATO stronger and more effective,” the State Department said Sunday.
The informal meeting is scheduled from 14 to 16 May. This will be Rubio’s first overseas travel since Trump tapped him as acting national security adviser while continuing his service as the nation’s top diplomat.
Prior to Turkey meetings, Rubio will accompany President Trump to Saudi Arabia and Qatar starting today. “Secretary Rubio’s engagements with senior officials will advance solutions to global and regional challenges, expand bilateral trade and investment, and reaffirm our strategic partnerships,” department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement.
On Sunday, Rubio spoke with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in separate calls to reaffirm the US stance on Russia’s war in Ukraine. “Our top priority remains bringing an end to the fighting and an immediate ceasefire,” Bruce said in a readout of Rubio-Lammy call.
As for Germany’s Merz, he and Rubio discussed the weekend meeting between the Chancellor, Ukrainian leader Zelensky, French President Macron, British and Polish Prime Ministers Starmer and Tusk in Kyiv and “our shared goal of ending the war in Ukraine,” as spokesperson Bruce put it.
From European leaders calling for a 30-day ceasefire starting today and claiming President Trump’s support for the ultimatum, to President Zelensky’s decision to challenge Putin to meet him in Istanbul this Thursday – same day when Rubio and other top NATO diplomats will be meeting in Antalya – stakes have never been higher in this already high-stakes game of diplomacy.
For transatlantic advocates such as Scott Cullinane, co-founder of the U.S.-Europe Alliance, given how Putin is emboldened by hallow diplomacy, NATO foreign ministers should be ready to engage the Kremlin in coordination with Ukraine, “but just meeting for talks isn’t the same as true diplomacy.”
“Diplomatic outreach must be backed up by real commitments and unified actions across NATO,” Cullinane told Kyiv Post.
Source: Alex Raufoglu