Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Washington's NATO allies Friday to face up to US troop cuts in Europe, as the alliance sought to patch over tensions with President Donald Trump ahead of a July summit.
After Trump lashed out at allies over their response to his war in Iran, his administration sowed confusion in Europe with a string of announcements on force changes on the continent in the past month.
Trump left heads spinning as NATO foreign ministers met in the Swedish city of Helsingborg by announcing he would send 5,000 troops to Poland, in an apparent reversal of Washington earlier calling off the planned deployment.
The shift was welcomed by NATO chief Mark Rutte and Poland's foreign minister, but it fuelled concerns about a lack of coordination between the United States and its allies in the face of a menacing Russia.
"It is confusing indeed, and not always easy to navigate," said Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard.
Trump's seeming U-turn came after Washington earlier this month abruptly announced it was withdrawing 5,000 troops from Germany following a spat between the US president and Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
After the meeting Rubio insisted it was "well understood in the alliance that the United States troop presence in Europe is going to be adjusted".
"That work was already ongoing, and it's been done in coordination with our allies," he told journalists.
"I'm not saying they're going to be thrilled about it, but they certainly are aware of it."
The US top diplomat signalled that Washington would soon also announce that it was cutting the number of troops it puts at NATO's disposal in case of an emergency.
A string of NATO ministers agreed that US drawdowns were widely expected as Washington focuses on other threats and Europe ramps up its defences.
"What is important is that it happens in a structured manner, so that Europe is able to build up when the US reduces its presence," Norwegian foreign minister Espen Barth Eide said.
- 'Disappointment' -
The meeting in Sweden came after Trump hit out at Europeans over their refusal to help out in his war on Iran -- and even threatened to consider quitting NATO.
Diplomats hoped it would help turn the page ahead of the alliance's summit in Ankara so that they could focus on showcasing increased spending by Europe.
Rubio reiterated Trump's "disappointment" at his allies and said it would "have to be addressed".
In a bid to calm the storm, some European allies have dispatched vessels closer to the region to help in the Strait of Hormuz when the war ends.
Rubio said he told European countries that they may have to come up with a "Plan B" to help force open the Strait of Hormuz if the war with Iran drags on.
"I don't know that would be a NATO mission necessarily, but it would certainly be NATO countries that can contribute," he said.
- Ankara overshadowed? -
Since Trump's return to power last year, NATO has weathered a series of crises including talking him down from trying to seize Greenland.
Now the fallout from the Iran war threatens to overshadow the summit in the Turkish capital Ankara.
NATO had been hoping to focus on showing Trump that allies were making good on their promise to him at last year's summit to ramp up defence-related spending to five percent of GDP.
Diplomats say a spate of arms deals are being lined up to show the US leader that Europe is putting its money where its mouth is.
"The task ahead is clear to turn allied commitments into concrete results," NATO chief Mark Rutte said.
Led by big-spending Germany, there is an increasing mood of steeliness in Europe -- but for now discussions are on building up the continent's role in NATO rather than creating an alternative.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said it was the moment to "to Europeanise NATO".
One area where the Europeans are already standing more on their own is backing Ukraine -- whose president Volodymyr Zelensky will be joining NATO leaders allies in Ankara, Rutte confirmed.
The alliance chief is pushing to get European nations to buy more US weapons for Kyiv and more equally share the burden among themselves.
"At the moment it is only six or seven allies who are doing the heavy lifting."
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