{"id":2156,"date":"2026-06-17T13:23:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T13:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/2156\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T13:23:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T13:23:11","slug":"nato-secretary-general-says-us-not-pulling-away-from-allies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/2156\/","title":{"rendered":"NATO Secretary General says US not \u2018pulling away\u2019 from allies"},"content":{"rendered":"

BELFAST \u2014 The US decision to reduce its NATO<\/a> Force Model contribution is not a \u201cproblem\u201d or a sign that Washington is loosening ties with other members of the organization, the alliance\u2019s top official insisted today.<\/p>\n

Rather, a \u201cpositive\u201d picture is emerging as allies attempt to fill the gap in troop numbers and assets left to be replaced by the US move, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said at a press conference in Brussels.<\/p>\n

In the wake of Washington\u2019s change of heart regarding its presence in Europe, Rutte noted that \u201cother allies have stepped up to contribute more, in some cases completely,\u201d in replacing US personnel or capabilities. However, he warned that other areas still required more work to be filled. <\/p>\n

Asked if he expected the US to be fully involved in a future war against Russia, the NATO official told reporters that the issue \u201cis not about where forces and assets are currently located, it\u2019s about who would do what\u2026if our defense plans were activated,\u201d under the alliance\u2019s Article 5 collective defense clause.<\/p>\n

He added that those defense plans have previously been \u201coverly reliant on the United States,\u201d but that the \u201cadjusted\u201d pledge, leaving other allies to step up and contribute further, is \u201cfair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pushing back on how the US force reduction has been more critically appraised, Rutte said that in \u201csome cases, this has been cast as a problem, as the US pulling away from its allies, but that is not the reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

His remarks followed a report from the New York Times on US plans to withdraw a third of its fighter jets<\/a> from Europe, in what would be a clear weakening of airpower capabilities in the region.<\/p>\n

European allies and Canada are ready to \u201cdo more\u201d in building out conventional military capabilities, Rutte noted, without elaborating. \u201cThis is what NATO 3.0 is all about: a stronger Europe and a stronger NATO. We are seeing more investment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rutte\u2019s comments are likely aimed at US President Donald Trump, as he and other heads of state prepare to meet in Ankara next month for the NATO Summit.<\/p>\n

Trump has previously threatened to leave the alliance, issuing public criticism on several occasions. In April, he criticized both NATO and European powers for not supporting the Iran-Israeli war against Iran, declaring on social media<\/a>, \u201cNATO WASN\u2019T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON\u2019T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the face of Russian aggression, Rutte also repeated messaging around the need for NATO allies to ramp up weapons production and deliver a stronger industrial base by making \u201csteady\u201d increases to defense investment plans.<\/p>\n

In Ankara, he expects allies to present \u201ccredible plans\u201d to reach the alliance\u2019s 5 percent GDP spending target, split between 3.5 percent on core defense and 1.5 percent on items like infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Allied defense ministers will meet in Brussels on Thursday to discuss nuclear planning, while the Ukraine Defense Contact Group will also convene to discuss military aid priorities for Kyiv. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BELFAST \u2014 The US decision to reduce its NATO Force Model contribution is not a \u201cproblem\u201d or a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2157,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[641,47,643,7,20,71],"class_list":["post-2156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-air-force","tag-europe","tag-global","tag-nato","tag-russia","tag-ukraine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}