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Rubio Tries to Sell Iran War 03/27 06:10
VAUX-DE-CERNAY, France (AP) -- Group of Seven foreign ministers met on
Friday in France to discuss the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with deep divisions
apparent over the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, following U.S. President Donald
Trump's repeated complaints that America's allies have ignored or rejected
requests for help in the military operation and in confronting Iran's
retaliatory attacks, including the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to most
international shipping.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio joined his counterparts from the G7 just
24 hours after Trump's latest round of insults lobbed at NATO and as
instability in oil markets persisted with the Iran war entering its fourth week
along with uncertainty over the status of potential negotiations to end the
crisis.
Most of America's closest allies have greeted the war with deep skepticism,
sentiments that were on display as the G7 foreign ministers met at a historic
12th-century abbey in Vaux-de-Cernay, outside Paris, even as they urged a
diplomatic solution to resolve the situation.
As the diplomats gathered, France's Minister of the Armed Forces Catherine
Vautrin said the war in the Middle East "is not ours," adding that the French
position is strictly defensive.
"The aim is truly this diplomatic approach, which is the only one that can
guarantee a return to peace," she said on Europe 1 and CNews. "Many countries
are concerned, and it is absolutely essential that we find a solution."
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, meanwhile, said Britain also
favored a diplomatic path, acknowledging differences with the United States.
"We have taken the approach of supporting defensive action, but also we've
taken a different approach on the offensive action that has taken place as part
of this conflict," she said.
Rubio already faced difficulties in trying to sell the U.S. strategy for the
Iran conflict, but Trump's vitriolic comments about NATO countries not stepping
up to help the U.S. and Israel during a Cabinet meeting on Thursday will likely
make it an even tougher task.
Of the G7 nations -- besides the U.S. -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany
and Italy are members of the trans-Atlantic military alliance. Japan is the
only one that is not.
"We are very disappointed with NATO because NATO has done absolutely
nothing," Trump said in comments echoed later by his top diplomat.
"Frankly, I think countries around the world, even those that are out there
complaining about this a little bit, should actually be grateful that the
United States has a president that's willing to confront a threat like this,"
Rubio said Thursday.
Rubio also still has work to do to smooth things over with allies like those
in Europe that have faced criticism or outright threats from Trump and others
in his Republican administration. The Europeans are still smarting over Trump's
earlier demands to take over Greenland from NATO ally Denmark and are concerned
about U.S. support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. The conflict in the
Middle East has added another point of tension.
Shortly before leaving Washington, however, Rubio told reporters he was not
concerned about G7 unhappiness with the war.
"I'm not there to make them happy," he said. "I get along with all of them
on a personal level, and we work with those governments very carefully, but the
people I'm interested in making happy are the people of the United States.
That's who I work for. I don't work for France or Germany or Japan."
Trump has complained about lack of support from allies
Trump has complained that he has not been able to rally support behind his
war of choice in Iran and that NATO and most other allies have rejected his
calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran's chokehold has disrupted
oil shipments and pushed up energy prices.
"We're there to protect NATO, to protect them from Russia. But they're not
there to protect us," Trump said Thursday. He later added: "I never thought we
needed them. I was more doing a test."
Before the U.S. leader's comments, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte
reiterated the increase in defense spending by alliance members -- which Trump
has urged -- saying Europe and Canada had been "overreliant on U.S. military
might" but a "shift in mindset" has taken hold.
Rutte said NATO has been clear that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and
has "long recognized the threat Iran's missile program posed to allies and
their interests. And what the United States is currently doing is degrading
those capabilities, both the nuclear and the missile."
Iran has long insisted that its nuclear program is peaceful, and its
ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency has said that the United
States and Israel's "justification that Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons
is simply a big lie." The ambassador, Reza Najafi, has accused the U.S. and
Israel of attacking "Iran's peaceful safeguarded nuclear facilities."
G7 host France has been skeptical of the Iran war
France is hosting the G7 meeting near Versailles and has been highly
skeptical of the war. Besides Vautrin's comments on Friday, the chief of the
French defense staff, Gen. Fabien Mandon, complained this week that U.S. allies
had not been informed about the start of hostilities.
"They have just decided to intervene in the Near and Middle East without
notifying us," Mandon said, lamenting that the U.S. "is less and less
predictable and doesn't even bother to inform us when it decides to engage in
military operations."
However, 35 countries joined military talks hosted by Mandon on how to
reopen the Strait of Hormuz "once the intensity of hostilities has sufficiently
decreased," France's Defense Ministry said.
Rubio said that with Iran threatening global shipping, countries that care
about international law "should step up and deal with it."
Similar sentiments to Mandon's have been expressed by other allies that also
worry about the U.S. commitment to Ukraine as the Iran war closes in on four
weeks.
"We must avoid further destabilization, secure our economic freedom and
develop perspectives for an end of and the time after the hostilities," German
Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Thursday. "Our joint support for Ukraine
... must not crumble now. That would be a strategic mistake with a view to
Euro-Atlantic security."
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