BRUSSELS — NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Thursday that the United States has no intention of rapidly scaling back its military presence in Europe, despite ongoing calls for European allies to take on greater responsibility for their own defense.
“There are no plans for them to all of a sudden draw down their presence here in Europe,” Mr. Rutte said ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.
The remarks come amid continued debate over burden-sharing within the alliance and growing pressure from Washington for NATO members to increase defense spending.
“We do everything in the alliance in the spirit of no surprises, of working together, of being strong allies,” Mr. Rutte added. “We are laser-focused on the main threat, which is Russia, and the upcoming issues around China, North Korea, and Iran.”
He acknowledged that the United States has long sought to shift more of its strategic focus to the Indo-Pacific region, particularly since former President Donald J. Trump entered office in 2016. That pivot, Mr. Rutte noted, has been accompanied by persistent calls for Europe to boost its own defense capabilities.
“For many years, the Americans have told us… they want to pivot more towards Asia,” he said. “They have also told Europeans: you have to spend more. This really started to happen after Trump came into office. Since then, we are spending more on this side of the Atlantic — $700 billion in aggregate since 2016 and 2017.”
Mr. Rutte, who recently assumed the role of NATO chief, emphasized that any shift in U.S. posture would be undertaken in coordination with allies and would not undermine the alliance’s core mission of collective defense.
