LIVE: US Secretary Of State Marco Rubio meets NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte In Sweden

Added: 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]Hello, good uh good morning again and good morning again Marco Marco Rubio. Uh we really appreciate you being here today. Um we had a first discussion. We will now continue with of course the NATO foreign ministers and the meeting will very much concentrate on a couple of issues also on your mind and the president's mind which has to do with the defense spending. The good news is the money is now coming in. Defense spending is rapidly ramping up, building on the success of the DH summit. Tens of billions and over the years it's hundreds of billions coming in. That also leads us to the question how to spend it to make sure that it is spent well and that brings us to the big issue of the defense industrial base which is not producing enough. This is a problem in Europe. It is a problem in the US and this will be a big issue at the Ankara summit. Um but there are huge opportunities here. We have to produce more to maintain our deterrence and defense. But we're also big in terms of the defense dividend societal effects here in terms of jobs, um, new factories opening up, new production lines across the Atlantic and even more fostering the transatlantic bond. And of course, Ukraine will be on the agenda today making sure that Ukraine stays strong in the fight. And I again want to thank the United States for the fact that the critical flow of US military support to Ukraine in terms of for example the interceptors for patriotis systems continues to go paid for by European and Canadian allies and it is really vital for Ukraine to stay strong in the fight.

[00:01:35]Obvious today we have foreign ministers here so we will discuss foreign issues and one of the big issues now of course is Iran the straight of Ramoose the issue of freedom of navigation and uh I hear from many of my colleagues here that is not acceptable that the freedom of navigation is is is basically um trampled upon as it is at the moment and we have to think how we collectively can deal deal with this and I think everybody acknowledges that the United States degrading the nuclear capability of Iran, but also the longrange missile capability of Iran is crucial for the Middle East, for Europe, for the whole world. So again, Marco, thank you for being here, for your incredible leadership, uh, and being such a staunch supporter of our transatlantic bond.

[00:02:22]>> Well, thank you. First of all, thank you to this great country for hosting us.

[00:02:25]They've been phenomenal hosts. They've been great new members of NATO's, really model allies and and great hosts. So, it's it's a pleasure to be here. It's always great to see you, Mark. And obviously we're here to set the groundwork for what I think will be probably one of the more important leader summit in the history of NATO. Uh the the president's views uh frankly disappointment at some of our NATO allies and their response to our operations in the Middle East have well documented that will have to be addressed. It won't be solved or addressed today. That's something for the leaders level to discuss. In the meantime, there are other areas where we continue with cooperation. You saw the president's announcement last night with regards to Poland and deployment. That said, obviously 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.

[00:03:13]It's just a something that's ongoing and it was pre-existing all these recent reports and tensions and so forth. So, that's a process that will continue that I think in a very positive and productive way um and collaboration with our allies can can reach decisions. But in the end, you know, like like any alliance, it has to be good for everyone who's involved. It has to be clear understanding of what the expectations are. And so certainly we'll try to lay the groundwork for that. One of the areas where I think we definitely can cooperate on is the defense industrial base. It is clear to the world to all of us uh in the alliance and beyond that um we simply are not able to produce munitions today at a rate that are necessary for future needs. That's something that has to be addressed.

[00:03:53]That's something that we can work together on. That's something we want to work together on. I think it's key not just to production but to interoperability and so I imagine that'll be a topic of conversation on the issue of Iran the news this morning I know it's early on the still in the United States a little later in in the region in the Middle East but uh we await word on on those conversations that are ongoing there's been some slight progress 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 they not it's this regime can never have nuclear weapons and to achieve that we're going to have to address the issue of enrichment. We're going to have to address the issue of the highlyenriched uranium. And then added to this, of course, is the issue of the straits. 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. I don't know of a country in the world that's in favor of it except Iran, but there's no country in the world that should accept it. Right now, at the United Nations, we have a resolution that is sponsored by Bahrain. We've been very involved with it. It has 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.

[00:05:14]That's a place that we're going to try to get an outcome for. And and obviously I think almost every country represented here today has signed on as a co-sponsor of that resolution. And if they haven't, I'm sure they soon will because I don't know of anyone in the world that would that should be in favor of a tolling system in an international waterway.

[00:05:31]That's just not acceptable. It can't happen. If that were to happen in the Straits of Ormuza, it will happen in five other places around the world. Why would countries all over the world say, "Well, we want to do this, too." Not to mention how vital and critical that strait is to every country represented here today, but but frankly to countries not represented here today, particularly the Indoacific. So, um, we'll have a good meeting today. I hope it'll be productive. I expect it will be and it'll set the groundwork for the leaders to meet in about six weeks. And, uh, we have a lot of work to do between now and then.

[00:06:00]>> Absolutely.

[00:06:00]>> Okay. Thank you. Thank you so much.

[00:06:01]Thank you so much. Thank you.

[00:08:06]Excellencies, if you could please for a few seconds straight in front of you.

[00:08:22]>> Thank you very much. Thank you.

[00:08:31]Come on, guys. Let's go. Let's go.

[00:08:35]>> You must pull. You must pull. We're going. Come on. Let's move.