ANKARA, Turkey — Following US President Donald Trump’s criticism of European countries for failing to provide the expected backing in the war against Iran, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte defended allies’ crucial contributions.
“We know it was a disappointment for the Americans when it comes to Iran; it has to do with isolated cases. At the same time, we’ve seen up to 5,000 sorties [of US aircraft] from European bases [as part of its military operations against Iran]. Allies are implementing all the bilateral basing arrangements,” Rutte said during his doorstep remarks on Wednesday.
Late Tuesday, Trump identified European nations that he viewed as unsupportive during the US war on Iran in a press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Countries including Italy and the UK have previously refused to get drawn into the conflict directly.
“Italy turned us down, Germany turned us down, and France turned us down… Why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars when they’re not there for us? We’ve always been there for them,” Trump said shortly after landing in Ankara.
The US military conducted a new round of strikes on Tehran, striking more than 80 targets, according to a statement published late on Tuesday by the US Central Command. Rutte described those actions as “absolutely necessary.”
Further doubling down on Europe’s credibility, he said the continent is a major platform for US “power projection” and has matched Washington’s defense spending.
During meetings today at the summit, he expects allies to “reaffirm that Iran must never acquire nuclear weapons,” – a position that strongly aligns with the Trump administration.
On other matters, the Secretary General, speaking from the Turkish capital ahead of talks today between all 32 NATO member-states, named Russia as the core long-term threat to the alliance.