【Text by Observer Net, Chen Sijia】According to Reuters on November 28, NATO will hold a foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels, Belgium next week, but two U.S. officials revealed that U.S. Secretary of State Rubio will be notably absent from this meeting. It is unclear the reason for Rubio's absence from the NATO foreign ministers' meeting, and the U.S. State Department spokesperson refused to comment on this report.

President of the United States, Trump is trying to push for a peace negotiation between Ukraine and Russia, but there are disagreements among the U.S., Ukraine, and Russia on several key terms of the peace plan, with Ukraine often accepting terms that Russia cannot accept, and vice versa. At the same time, Europe has been complaining that the U.S. has excluded it from the negotiations on the peace plan. Therefore, the NATO foreign ministers' meeting on December 3 is seen as a critical meeting.

However, two U.S. officials revealed that Rubio will miss this meeting. One official said that the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau will attend the meeting on behalf of Rubio. The report stated that it is unclear why Rubio plans to miss the NATO foreign ministers' meeting, and his plan may change.

NATO usually holds two formal ministerial meetings annually, and the absence of the U.S. Secretary of State is extremely rare. In 2017, during Trump's first term, then-U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had planned to miss the meeting in April that year, and at that time, NATO actively adjusted the schedule to accommodate his schedule.

The U.S. State Department spokesperson refused to comment on Reuters' report, stating only that NATO would "fully revitalize" under Trump's second term. The spokesperson pointed out that Rubio has recently met with multiple European officials in Switzerland, "The Secretary regularly meets and communicates with NATO allies, including the meeting in Geneva last weekend."

A senior U.S. State Department official said that Rubio has attended dozens of meetings with NATO allies, "It is completely unrealistic to expect him to attend every single one."

U.S. Secretary of State Rubio IC photo

Analysts believe that Rubio's absence from the NATO meeting at a crucial moment could deepen European doubts and concerns about America's security commitments. The U.S. is the leader of NATO, but Trump has repeatedly questioned the necessity of NATO. Landau will attend the meeting instead of Rubio, who shares Trump's position, and had previously expressed doubts about NATO in June, although he later deleted the relevant post.

At the NATO leaders' summit held in The Hague, Netherlands in June, Trump's statements became more moderate, reiterating his confidence in NATO. However, Trump insisted that other NATO member states increase their defense spending, saying that the U.S. "will no longer rescue them."

Ukrainian and European officials have long been worried that the Trump administration might force Ukraine to accept a "too favorable" agreement for Russia. Last week, the "28-point peace plan" between the U.S. and Russia was exposed, which includes requiring Ukraine to give up territorial control over the eastern Donbas region, limit its military size to 600,000 troops, and never join NATO, which is seen as "severely favoring Russia."

On the evening of November 23, delegations from the U.S., Ukraine, and European countries held talks in Geneva, Switzerland. After the meeting, the U.S. and Ukraine released another "19-point peace plan." According to media reports, the new plan no longer imposes strict restrictions on the size of the Ukrainian military, while issues such as territorial division, whether Ukraine can join the EU and NATO, and security guarantees for Ukraine were put on hold.

American cable news network CNN analyzed that the Trump administration is trying to conclude an agreement through two different negotiation tracks, hoping to reach "sufficiently close" agreements separately with Russia and Ukraine, thus achieving peace. This approach creates the illusion of progress in the negotiations, but in reality, there is no substantial outcome, and it is impossible to bridge the huge differences between Ukraine and Russia.

However, CNN also pointed out that Ukraine is currently facing a corruption scandal, and the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Yermak, has resigned after being searched by anti-corruption officials at his residence. On the front lines, Russian forces are gaining the upper hand, and they are expected to seize the key town of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region (known as Red Army City in Russia). Zelenskyy may have to make a difficult choice: accept a peace agreement unfavorable to Ukraine or continue fighting under difficult circumstances.

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