WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has arrived in Sweden for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers as European alliesseek reassurancesover US troop drawdowns and Washington's shifting rhetoric on the alliance.
Rubio will attend the gathering in Helsingborg on May 22, one of the final senior-level ministerial meetings before alliance leaders convene for a summit in Ankara in July.
According to the State Department, the top US diplomat is expected to press allies for higher defense spending and "greater burden sharing" while also focusing onArcticsecurity.
But the meeting comes at a moment of deep unease. European officials are seeking clarity on how much Washington plans to scale back its military presence on the continent following a series of abrupt Pentagon moves that have rattled the alliance.
