US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to skip a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels next week, according to two US officials, marking a highly unusual absence of Washington’s top diplomat from a key transatlantic gathering.
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau will represent the United States instead, one official confirmed, though Rubio’s plans could still change at the last moment. His likely no-show comes as US and Ukrainian officials struggle to bridge differences over President Donald Trump’s controversial plan to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with some European diplomats voicing frustration that they are being sidelined.
NATO foreign ministers typically meet twice a year, and it is rare for a US secretary of state to miss such sessions. In 2017, then-Secretary Rex Tillerson initially planned to skip an April meeting before it was rescheduled to fit his calendar.
A State Department spokesperson declined to comment directly on Rubio’s absence but insisted the alliance had been “completely revitalised” under Trump, citing what they described as historic foreign policy achievements. A NATO official, meanwhile, deferred to Washington on Rubio’s attendance, noting that it is not unusual for some ministers to miss the event.
European and Ukrainian officials remain wary of being pressured into a peace deal seen as overly favourable to Moscow, concerns that intensified after a leaked draft 28-point plan to end the war surfaced on November 18. Rubio’s absence risks amplifying doubts about Washington’s commitment to European security, already strained by Trump’s repeated questioning of NATO’s necessity and his threats to withdraw from the alliance.
Landau, who will attend in Rubio’s place, previously cast doubt on NATO’s relevance in a June post on X that he later deleted. Trump reaffirmed his support for the alliance at a leaders’ summit in June, widely viewed as a success, but has consistently pressed member states to increase defence spending, warning that Washington would no longer “bail them out.”
The timing of Rubio’s absence is particularly sensitive for Ukraine. Alongside uncertainty over peace negotiations, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, resigned on Friday after anti-corruption agents searched his home, deepening political turmoil in Kyiv.
