U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NATO allies on Thursday that Washington remained committed to the alliance but expected them to spend far more on defence and would give them some time to do so.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio departed for today’s meeting with his NATO counterparts with a traditional message of support coupled with a warning that Europe can’t rely on America to do all the heavy lifting.

On the global stage in Brussels Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio tried to reassure fellow NATO countries that President Donald Trump is on their side.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the US has no plans to withdraw troops from Europe, though militaries in the region should “step up” as Washington focuses more on Asia.

Nato could play a key role assisting a proposed European military mission to guarantee a peace deal in Ukraine under plans being sketched out by a coalition of Kyiv’s western allies. Nato’s command and control structures would be used in a deployment of a so-called reassurance force in Ukraine,

Trump’s envoy Marco Rubio faces European NATO allies amid tension over Greenland, Ukraine and the future of the alliance.

The country’s strongman, President Erdogan, is ruthlessly cracking down on dissent just as Turkey’s influence in the Middle East is growing rapidly.

According to NATO estimates, some of the continent's big economies, such as Italy and Spain, are among those below the current 2 per cent target, at around 1.5 per cent and 1.3 per cent respectively