LIVE: Rutte holds press conference ahead of NATO foreign ministers meeting

This Reuters live transcript is a press conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte ahead of the NATO foreign ministers meeting. The central message is that NATO is in a period of accelerated adjustment: European and Canadian allies are increasing defense spending and capabilities, and the U.S. is expected to rebalance resources over time, but in a structured and orderly way rather than through sudden surprises. Rutte repeatedly framed this as a healthier and more sustainable alliance model, with Europe taking more responsibility for conventional defense while the U.S. remains involved, including on nuclear deterrence. A major theme was the Middle East. Rutte said Iran must not obtain nuclear weapons and described Iranian efforts to threaten freedom of navigation as a direct assault on global commerce. He said NATO allies are increasingly responding to U.S. …

1. Rutte said NATO is getting stronger because Europe and Canada are spending more on defense and taking on a larger share of conventional deterrence.
2. He framed the U.S. role shift as gradual and structured, not chaotic, while the U.S. remains involved in Europe, including nuclear deterrence.
3. He treated Iran's nuclear ambitions and threats to freedom of navigation as a major security and commerce risk.
4. He highlighted NATO's eastern-flank drone defenses and said the alliance is adapting lessons from Ukraine's drone war.
5. He argued the bottleneck in NATO rearmament is defense industrial output, not just budget commitments.
6. He pushed allies to share the burden on Ukraine support more transparently, even if his 0.25% GDP proposal is unlikely to pass.
7. He linked Russia's war, China's support role, North Korea, and Iran into a broader adversary network that justifies Indo-Pacific partnerships.

• Rutte's confidence that the transition to a bigger European role is orderly may understate the political and operational uncertainty around U.S. troop changes.
• His claim that NATO is "stronger" may be arguable given persistent dependence on U.S. capabilities and the uneven burden-sharing he himself describes.
• The 0.25% of GDP proposal for Ukraine support is acknowledged by Rutte as unlikely to pass, suggesting it is more agenda-setting than actionable policy.
• His discussion of possible NATO involvement in the Middle East remains deliberately vague and does not establish a clear legal or operational pathway.
• The assertion that Russia's drone incidents are fully explained by the Ukraine war is plausible but not proven in the transcript, especially regarding intent or navigation.