Trump’s ‘disappointment’ with Nato lays groundwork for ‘one of the most important’ summits ever, Rubio says – Europe live

From 2h ago 09.22 BST Trump's 'disappointment' with Nato will be discussed at 'one of the most important summits in history of Nato' in Ankara, Rubio says Rubio begins with thanks to Sweden for hosting the ministerial meeting. But that’s where the niceties end as says the upcoming Ankara summit will be “one of the more important leaders’ summit in the history of Nato,” as the leaders will have to respond to Trump’s “disappointment” with the alliance’s “response to our operations in the Middle East.” “That will have to be addressed, that won’t be solved or addressed today. That’s something for the leaders level to discuss.” He notes the US announcement on Poland, but adds “the United States continues to have global commitments that it needs to meet in terms of our force deployment, and that constantly requires us to reexamine where we put troops.” “This is not a punitive thing, it’s just something that’s ongoing, and it was pre-existing,” he says. He says there’s plenty of scope to work with Nato on defence industrial base. Share Updated at 10.07 BST 20m ago 11.09 BST Nato shooting down drone over Estonia sends message to Russia, Romanian minister says Meanwhile, Romanian deputy defence minister Sorin Moldovan said at the Globsec Forum in Prague that the shooting down of a drone in Estonian airspace earlier this week sends a clear message to Russia that incursions into Nato airspace will not be tolerated. Russian jamming blamed after Nato jet downs Ukrainian drone over Estonia Read more Share 1h ago 10.25 BST Speaking before the summit kicked off, German foreign minister Johann Wadephul said Berlin will spend more than 4% of the country’s GDP on defence this year and is on its way to the new target of 5%, Reuters reported. Germany will suggest intensifying defence cooperation with Ukraine with the goal to speed up production, Wadephul said. Share 2h ago 09.28 BST Rubio's tone on Trump's 'disappointment' suggests fireworks in Ankara - snap analysis Jakub Krupa Going by Rubio’s tone on Trump’s disappointment with Nato and how this is something that will have to be discussed by the leaders in Ankara, it’s clear we will be hearing a lot about it in the coming weeks. Calling it “one of the most important summits in the history of Nato” is Trumpesque in its style, and sounds almost like a warning. Share 2h ago 09.26 BST 'Some slight progress' in talks with Iran, Rubio says Rubio then goes into Iran in a bit more detail, saying there has been “some slight progress” in talks with Teheran. “I don’t want to exaggerate it, but there’s been a little bit of movement, and that’s good. The fundamentals remain the same. Iran can never have a nuclear weapon, it just cannot.” He says the US needs to “address the issue of the highly enriched uranium,” and restore the freedom of navigation in the strait of Hormuz. “Iran is trying to create a tolling system. They’re trying to convince Oman, by the way, to join them in this tolling system in an international waterway. There is not a country in the world that should accept that.” He says the the US has a draft UN resolution it’s working on with Bahrain, with “the highest number of co-sponsors of any resolution ever before the Security Council.” “Unfortunately, a couple of countries on the Security Council are thinking about vetoing it. That would be lamentable. We are you doing everything we can, though, to achieve the sort of global consensus that’s necessary to prevent this from happening, and we’re trying to use the United Nations. Let’s see if the United Nations still works.” He says that “almost every country” represented at Nato has signed as a co-sponsor, and he hopes the remaining few “soon will.” He then ends on a slightly upbeat note, saying he is hoping for “a good meeting today” to “set the groundwork for the leaders to meet in about six weeks.” And that ends his briefing. Share Updated at 09.27 BST 2h ago 09.22 BST Trump's 'disappointment' with Nato will be discussed at 'one of the most important summits in history of Nato' in Ankara, Rubio says Rubio begins with thanks to Sweden for hosting the ministerial meeting. But that’s where the niceties end as says the upcoming Ankara summit will be “one of the more important leaders’ summit in the history of Nato,” as the leaders will have to respond to Trump’s “disappointment” with the alliance’s “response to our operations in the Middle East.” “That will have to be addressed, that won’t be solved or addressed today. That’s something for the leaders level to discuss.” He notes the US announcement on Poland, but adds “the United States continues to have global commitments that it needs to meet in terms of our force deployment, and that constantly requires us to reexamine where we put troops.” “This is not a punitive thing, it’s just something that’s ongoing, and it was pre-existing,” he says. He says there’s plenty of scope to work with Nato on defence industrial base. Share Updated at 10.07 BST 2h ago 09.18 BST Nato’s Rutte