Rutte Tells Rubio Trump’s Demand for Increased European Defense Spending ‘Fair’

NATO’s Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who is attending the Davos World Economic Forum, had a phone call with new US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday. Rubio took office after Donald Trump became the 47th US president on Jan. 20.

After the usual pleasantries to welcome Washington’s new representative into post, they are said to have discussed both the war in Ukraine and the need to increase European defense spending. Rutte said this should be accompanied by expanded transatlantic defense production in an effort to collectively strengthen the north Atlantic alliance.

In December, Rutte is said to have told Trump that the US would face a “dire threat” if Ukraine was forced to sign a peace treaty based on Russia’s terms and added that Kyiv’s allies should ensure the country was put into the strongest possible position ahead of any negotiations with Russia.

Shortly after taking over his new role, Rubio said that he could not outline a timeline for ending Russia’s war against Ukraine but believed each side would have to make concessions. He said that the US would play its role in securing the peace but that negotiations to end the war would not be held in public.

Rutte was quoted by Politico as having admitted that US President Donald Trump’s demand that European allies spend more on defense was “absolutely fair.” At a breakfast meeting in Davos, he answered criticism of his record on levels of defense spending by Richard Grenell Trump’s presidential envoy for special missions by saying: “He is right of course, that the problem is not the US, and the problem is Europe.”

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In his previous post as Dutch prime minister, Rutte had also received criticism over the regular failure of the Netherlands to meet NATO’s 2% GDP defense spending target. The war in Ukraine has underlined the need to ensure each member meets the target and as secretary general he is now suggesting that even that level of military funding may be insufficient to safeguard NATO nations. Some members, most notably the Baltic countries, are already exceeding the target expenditure level – a mark of the concern they feel towards the possibility of future Russian aggression.