Published on 6/29/2026
German Foreign Minister Johan Vadevol said on Monday that he will discuss with his American counterpart Marco Rubio a new burden-sharing arrangement within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) during a meeting to be held in Washington this week.
Vadiful and Rubio are scheduled to discuss how a new burden-sharing arrangement can be reached within the alliance and secure stable, long-term support for Ukraine during the NATO summit to be held in Ankara next week.
Vadivul added in a statement, “This support will make Moscow realize that the time has finally come to end the killing machine in Ukraine and sit at the negotiating table.”
American contradiction
For his part, former NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that the United States will remain highly dependent on its European allies, despite the criticism directed by US President Donald Trump of the military alliance.
The current Norwegian Finance Minister said in statements to the German newspaper “Welt” published today: “Defense of the United States begins at the European/Russian border,” explaining that one of the largest nuclear weapons arsenals in the world is located directly on the other side of the Norwegian border on the Russian Kola Peninsula.
He added, “These weapons are not directed to Oslo, but to Washington and New York. But Norway helps track Russian submarines when they leave their bases.”
According to Stoltenberg, Norway “also contributes to early warning about missiles and aircraft take-offs,” and the same applies to Finland and many other European countries. This is critical to the security of the United States.
Regarding the NATO summit scheduled for next July 7 and 8 in Ankara, and Trump’s repeated criticisms of European partners, Stoltenberg said, “Of course there are serious differences between the United States and Europe in the areas of trade and climate, as well as in security issues. I do not underestimate the importance of these challenges.”
Stoltenberg considered that the most important thing Europe can do to preserve NATO even under the Trump administration is to increase investments in defense. He said, “This is exactly what we are doing. Germany is now on its way to becoming the largest European investor in the field of defense.”
