\n<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON — <\/span>Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel this week to a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Sweden, where U.S. plans to reduce troop levels<\/a> in Europe coupled with President Donald Trump\u2019s often inconsistent stance<\/a> on the alliance have created concern while the world grapples with the fallout from the Iran war and rising energy prices.<\/p>\n The State Department said Tuesday that Rubio would attend the NATO meeting in Helsingborg on Friday, one of the last senior-level NATO gatherings before alliance leaders meet at a summit in Ankara, Turkey, in July.<\/p>\n Rubio will then travel on to India and plans to visit four cities, including Kolkata, Agra, Jaipur and New Delhi, where he will see Indian officials and is expected to meet with his Indian, Australian and Japanese counterparts, the other three members of the so-called \u201cQuad\u201d grouping of Indo-Pacific democracies.<\/p>\n In Sweden, Rubio will echo previous U.S. demands \u201cfor increased defense investment and greater burden sharing in the alliance,\u201d the State Department said in a statement. <\/p>\n It added that he would also focus on Arctic issues and meet with NATO’s Arctic members \u201cto discuss our shared economic and security interests in the Arctic and our strengthened posture in the High North.\u201d<\/p>\n The statement did not mention Greenland by name, but Trump has rankled Europeans with persistent talk about wanting to take over the Danish territory. Trump’s special envoy for Greenland, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, visited the island<\/a> this week. <\/p>\n Greenland\u2019s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said Monday that he had a respectful and positive meeting with Landry, but that he made it clear that the Greenlandic people insist on self-determination.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Greenlandic people are not for sale. Greenlandic self-determination<\/a> is not something that can be negotiated,\u201d Nielsen was quoted by Danish TV 2 as saying after meeting Landry. <\/p>\n For Europeans nervous about Trump, Rubio’s presence at transatlantic meetings has often been welcomed because of his less antagonistic nature and calm demeanor. <\/p>\n He has been dispatched on several such missions this year, including to the Munich Security Conference in February, and more recently to Italy, where he met with Italian officials and the pope after Trump criticized the pontiff for his stances on crime and the Iran war.<\/p>\n Ahead of the NATO foreign ministers meeting, the alliance’s top military officer said Tuesday that he doesn\u2019t expect any more drawdowns of American troops<\/a> from Europe \u2014 at least not anytime soon \u2014 beyond the 5,000 that Trump<\/a> announced would leave the continent.<\/p>\n The remarks by U.S. Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich follow Trump\u2019s surprise announcement of the move early this month. The U.S. leader has bickered with allies over the Iran war<\/a> and called for changes<\/a>. <\/p>\n The Pentagon later said it would draw down thousands of troops in Europe by canceling deployments to Poland and Germany as opposed to yanking out forces already stationed there. <\/p>\n Asked Tuesday about Trump\u2019s plans regarding troop levels in Poland, Vice President JD Vance said the administration\u2019s focus is on promoting \u201cEuropean independence and sovereignty.\u201d He also disputed that the U.S. is reducing troop levels in Poland.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we did is that we delayed a troop deployment that was going to go to Poland,\u201d Vance told White House reporters. \u201cThat\u2019s not a reduction. That\u2019s just a standard delay in rotation that sometimes happens in these situations.\u201d<\/p>\n Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell later Tuesday also said it was a \u201ctemporary delay\u201d of the deployment of U.S. forces to Poland, which he called a \u201cmodel U.S. ally.\u201d He said the delay was a result of the U.S. reducing the number of brigade combat teams assigned to Europe from four to three and he indicated the Pentagon still needed to decide which troops to station where.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s announcement blindsided NATO and came despite U.S. promises to coordinate military moves with its allies and avoid creating security gaps.<\/p>\n Trump was notably angry at Germany, after Chancellor Friedrich Merz<\/a> said the United States was being \u201chumiliated\u201d by the Iranian leadership and criticized what he called a lack of U.S. strategy in the war<\/a>. <\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Associated Press writers Lorne Cook in Brussels and Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n