MUNICH, Germany – Vice President J.D. Vance attended his first bilateral meeting this morning alongside NATO leaders, including Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who appeared to react positively to the Trump-Vance insistence that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) needs reform, with Rutte stating: “I look forward also from that perspective to our talks and on Europe stepping up, European part of NATO stepping up. You’re absolutely right. It has to be done. We have to grow up in that sense and spend much more.”
The pair appeared for the media, including The National Pulse, just before 9:30AM local time, during which VP Vance established the focus of the meeting, including the Ukraine-Russia war and America’s “challenges in East Asia.”
Vance opened: “This is actually our second meeting, the first right before the inauguration and the second now here at the Munich Security Conference. Of course, we’re going to talk about NATO, in particular the President’s desire to see NATO spend a little bit more resources on defense. And I know that’s something Secretary General Rutte agrees with me on. We’re going to talk, of course, about the Ukraine-Russia conflict and how to bring it to a negotiated settlement. And I’m sure we’ll talk about some other areas of cooperation, too.
He added: “I mean, my high-level argument to these folks is, look, Europe is, of course, a very important ally of the United States. NATO is a very important military alliance, of course, that we’re the most significant part of. But we want to make sure that NATO is actually built for the future. And we think a big part of that is ensuring that NATO does a little bit more burden-sharing in Europe so the United States can focus on some of our challenges in East Asia.”
Rutte, a former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, reciprocated: “I want to thank you and the American people for everything you were doing to keep the whole world safe, basically. And I know there are many theaters in the world you really have to pay your attention. So, I do understand the issue of burden sharing. It is crucial. […]
— Read More: thenationalpulse.com
