Tillerson calls NATO critical in countering Russian aggression

BRUSSELS – U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said NATO is crucial to countering Russian aggression, easing allies’ concerns about President Donald Trump’s commitment to trans-Atlantic security while repeating demands for members to spend more on defense.

In his first appearance at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Tillerson sought to assuage worries that the new U.S. administration would seek closer ties with Russia at NATO’s expense, particularly after Trump said during the 2016 presidential campaign that the alliance was obsolete.

“Let me be very clear at the outset of my remarks: the U.S. commitment to NATO is strong and this alliance remains the bedrock for trans-Atlantic security,” Tillerson said on Friday in Brussels. “The NATO alliance is also fundamental to countering both non-violent, but at times violent, Russian agitation and Russian aggression.”

Tillerson had stoked anxiety among the 28-nation organization when he initially indicated he wouldn’t be able to attend the foreign ministers’ meeting because it conflicted with a summit in Florida with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Friday’s event was rescheduled to accommodate him, and even so, Tillerson only planned to attend for a few hours. He was expected to leave before NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg delivers his closing remarks.

Russian Meetings

Nerves were rattled further when Tillerson said that he would go to Russia, the target of European and U.S. sanctions imposed after the Kremlin annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region in 2014, for meetings with top officials days after the Xi meeting. Numerous congressional committees, as well as the FBI and the U.S. intelligence community, are investigating the Trump campaign’s links to Russia, as well as Russian meddling in the U.S. election.

NATO officials, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly, said Tillerson’s remarks were well received by others at the meeting and that the atmosphere was positive.

Tillerson stressed the top U.S. national security priority is the fight against terrorism. He said NATO could contribute more, particularly in the area of cybersecurity. When he arrived in Brussels before the meeting, Tillerson said the other top U.S. priorities were to ensure NATO has the resources it needs and to discuss its force posture, “particularly Eastern Europe in response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and elsewhere.”

At the same time, Tillerson repeated demands that other alliance members meet pledges made in 2014 to spend 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense. In February, Defense Secretary James Mattis used his first NATO meeting to warn European governments the U.S. could scale back its pledges to defend Europe if allies don’t increase their spending.

Tillerson said NATO members should agree at a May gathering of their leaders that they will have either met the spending commitments – or come up with a plan to do so – by the end of the year.

Currently, the U.S. accounts for about 70 percent of the alliance’s overall defense expenditure, and just five NATO members meet the 2 percent target. Alliance members pledged in 2014 and then again last year to step up efforts to meet the spending goal by 2024.