BRUSSELS
\nNATO chief Mark Rutte said Wednesday that the United States was not stepping back from Europe by announcing cuts to the forces it makes available to the alliance. \u201cIn some cases this has been cast as a problem \u2014 as the US pulling away from its allies. But that is not the reality,\u201d Rutte said on the eve of a meeting of NATO defense ministers.
\nWashington has told allies it is reducing the assets it puts at disposal of NATO commanders as it expects European countries to take \u201cprimary responsibility\u201d for their own conventional defense. \u201cThe US has adjusted its pledges to the NATO Force Model,\u201d Rutte said.
\n\u201cThis is not primarily about where forces and assets are currently, but about who would do what if our defense plans were activated.\u201d US and German media reported that the cuts include a third of the 150 US F-16 and F-15 jets designated for NATO, plus refueling and reconnaissance aircraft, bombers and drones.
\nThe reports said a submarine that can launch cruise missiles is also being taken out, along with one of two aircraft carrier groups. The US move has sparked fear it could leave Europe vulnerable in the face of an aggressive Russia as questions swirl over US President Donald Trump\u2019s commitment to the alliance.
\nMultiple European diplomats insisted that Europe could step up to replace the capabilities that the US was cutting, if they are given enough time to fill the gaps. \u201cHistorically this was overly reliant on the US. Now the US has adjusted its pledged contributions \u2014 and other Allies have stepped up to contribute more,\u201d Rutte said.
\nThe NATO chief said the United States had \u201cmade clear that the US nuclear deterrent is solid.\u201d \u201cAnd that it is crucial that Europe and Canada do more on the conventional front, understanding that the US has obligations around the globe that it needs to account for,\u201d he said.
\nNATO leaders gearing up for a summit with Trump in Turkiye next month at which Europe wants to show it is making good on its pledge to ramp up defense spending. There were concerns that the war with Iran could overshadow the summit, after Trump blasted European allies over their response to the conflict.
\nRutte hailed the US-Iran deal to end the Middle East war, which European diplomats say they hope will draw a line under the disagreements ahead of the Ankara summit. \u201cThe deal President Trump struck has created an opportunity to ensure Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cThe restoration of free passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be a massive step forward. I know that many Allies \u2014 through the initiative led by France and the UK \u2014 are ready to support.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BRUSSELS NATO chief Mark Rutte said Wednesday that the United States was not stepping back from Europe by announcing cuts to the forces it makes available to the alliance. \u201cIn some cases this has been cast as a problem \u2014 as the US pulling away from its allies. But that is not the reality,\u201d Rutte …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":99193,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99211"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99222,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99211\/revisions\/99222"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}