NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte met U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Friday in Florida as the military alliance prepares for the real estate mogul’s return to power.
In a statement published Saturday, NATO said the two met in Palm Beach and discussed “the range of global security issues facing the alliance.”
The meeting appeared to be the first time Rutte has met with Trump since the former president’s reelection earlier this month.
It comes amid rising fears among European countries over Trump’s impact on the alliance, given his previous comments questioning the value of NATO and threatening not to defend members who don’t pay enough into the organization.
Rutte, who formally became NATO’s secretary-general in October, also met with U.S. Congressman Mike Waltz, Trump’s pick for national security adviser.
“A strong NATO that restores deterrence and peace requires all member nations to do their part commensurate with their economic strength!” Waltz said on X following the meeting.
Rutte, who was Dutch prime minister for almost 14 years, was seen as having a better relationship with Trump than many other European officials during his last presidency.
The NATO chief is due to travel to Ankara on Monday for talks with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on the war in Ukraine, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing a Turkish official.
The meetings come after a major escalation in the Ukraine conflict last week, with Russia firing a new intermediate-range hypersonic missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in response to Kyiv’s use of advanced weapons provided by the United States and the United Kingdom.
The Ukraine war, instigated by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, is approaching the three-year mark.
