Rubio heads to NATO meeting as angst over Trump, Iran war grows

WASHINGTON, May 20, (AP): Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel this week to a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Sweden, where US plans to reduce troop levels in Europe coupled with President Donald Trump's often inconsistent stance on the alliance have created concern while the world grapples with the fallout from the Iran war and rising energy prices.

The State Department said Tuesday that Rubio would attend the NATO meeting in Helsingborg on Friday, one of the last senior-level NATO gatherings before alliance leaders meet at a summit in Ankara, Turkey, in July.

Rubio will then travel on to India and plans to visit four cities, including Kolkata, Agra, Jaipur and New Delhi, where he will see Indian officials and is expected to meet with his Indian, Australian and Japanese counterparts, the other three members of the so-called "Quad" grouping of Indo-Pacific democracies.

In Sweden, Rubio will echo previous US demands "for increased defense investment and greater burden sharing in the alliance," the State Department said in a statement.