NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte downplayed U.S. President Donald Trump’s criticism of some alliance members on Tuesday and stated that Washington remained completely committed to NATO.
In remarks to journalists in Ankara on Wednesday, ahead of the launch of the summit of NATO heads of state and governments, Rutte stated: "There is complete commitment of the United States to NATO. But hey, there's also an expectation that the Europeans and the Canadians will equalize their spending with the United States ... Which I think ... is completely fair.”
On the same day Trump arrived in the capital for the summit, the U.S. launched overnight strikes on Iran. Rutte said the strikes were “absolutely necessary.”
"I think it was absolutely necessary because when you have a cease-fire and Iran is basically violating the cease-fire – we see what happened yesterday with ships being attacked – I think it is totally crucial that the U.S. forcefully react," he told journalists.
He stated that Trump was able to equalize defense spending between Europe and the U.S., calling for a much stronger alliance.
"President Trump has been able to finally get done what, since Eisenhower, American presidents tried to do, which was to equalize defense spending between Europe and the United States," Rutte said during his doorstep remarks.
He stressed the need for a much stronger Europe within the alliance, pointing to "NATO 3.0."
"The last summit in The Hague was all about planning and targeting; it was about the money, it was about industry, it was about, of course, continuing our support for Ukraine. This summit, as I always said, is about implementation, getting it done," Rutte said.
He reiterated the need for the alliance to be able to defend itself in the case of any possible attack and called for more defense industrial output.
"My message is that this alliance of 1 billion people living in Europe, living in Canada, living in the United States, that this alliance will defend every inch of our territory that you cannot win from NATO. We are defensive. We will never attack anyone. We will only defend our way of life, our democracies, our territory. So don't fool with us, don't play with us," Rutte said.
He also noted that he expects allies to discuss Iran and "reconfirm that Iran should never ever get its hands on a nuclear capability," while stressing the significance of the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
Rutte said that allies should make sure China and Russia do not gain access to the Arctic. He further reaffirmed that they had a good process in place regarding Denmark and Greenland after Trump renewed his calls to take over the latter.
Questioned on whether the U.S. is still a committed member of NATO amid his Greenland takeover bid or pulling out troops from Europe, Rutte assured that the commitment is present.
"So, the commitment is there, no doubt. Also, because NATO is there, it's in the U.S.' interest to prevent, for example, the submarines of Russia to end up on the shores of the United States, so the U.S. can stay safe," he added.
