NEW: NATO’s Ankara summit guest list is worth watching: von der Leyen, Costa, Zelenskyy, Indo-Pacific leaders and Gulf foreign ministers are now expected around the table. It says less about formal NATO business than about the politics Rutte has to manage around it. pro.politico.eu/news/219310

Gotland is a useful glimpse of Europe’s defense problem now: A Baltic island NATO cannot afford to lose, Russian pressure below the threshold of war, Ukrainian drones exposing old assumptions — and a harder question over how much U.S. support Europe can count on. www.politico.eu/article/nato...

Washington told allies it will gradually scale down the number of strategic bombers, fighter jets, drones, submarines and warships dedicated to NATO as it continues pressing Europe to do more for its own defense. www.politico.eu/article/us-t...

NATO’s top military commander on Tuesday said he did not expect further U.S. troop withdrawals soon, as allies privately pressed him to plug the gap created by Donald Trump’s move to pull thousands of soldiers from Europe. www.politico.eu/article/nato...

NEW: NATO's Mark Rutte asked allies to devote 0.25% of GDP to Ukraine to cement a regular flow of cash to Kyiv ease growing NATO tensions burden sharing. But the proposal is running into stiff resistance from some major allies like France and the UK. www.politico.eu/article/nato...

Let the bidding war begin. At least five NATO countries on Europe's eastern flank are scrambling to ask for American troops on their soil after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would pull 5,000 or more soldiers from Germany. www.politico.eu/article/nato...

NEW: After Donald Trump’s move to cut thousands of U.S. troops from Germany, one of the units likely to go is a specialized force that was supposed to bring Tomahawk missiles to Europe. Without it, Berlin and its allies are left with a yawning gap in their defenses/ www.politico.eu/article/berl...

NEW: Mark Rutte will have only two tools at his disposal as he scrambles to stave off the latest NATO crisis at a high-stakes White House meeting on Wednesday: persuasion and his personal relationship with Donald Trump. w/ @elistokols.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2026/04...

NEW: Trump administration officials have begun warning countries that U.S. weapons supplies to Ukraine may be interrupted in the coming months as the Pentagon prioritizes their use for the war in Iran. www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

NEW: Talks on reopening the Strait of Hormuz remain deadlocked amid confusion over Donald Trump’s call for support to U.S. allies, per 4 European govt officials. So far, Washington has not made any requests for equipment. @estwebber.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/donl...

Mark Rutte’s tried-and-tested approach to dealing with Donald Trump is coming under strain as his war in Iran opens up fresh fault lines inside NATO. A lack of consensus and NATO’s limited role in Iran make this crisis particularly hard to resolve. www.politico.eu/article/iran...

NEW: NATO countries are pushing back against the idea of a mission to Iran after Donald Trump threatened a “very bad future” for the alliance. But an alliance mission in Iran remains improbable for now, according to four NATO diplomats. w/ @sebstarcevic.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/euro...

NEW: Czechia is on track to slash its core defense spending to below 2 percent of GDP this year, setting it on a collision course with U.S. President Donald Trump — and the country’s NATO allies. w/ @paulmcleary.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/eu-c...

NEW: The U.S. is pushing NATO to slash many of its foreign activities including ending an alliance mission in Iraq. The U.S. is also lobbying to scale down NATO’s Kosovo op & and keep Ukraine from participating in the alliance’s annual summit in Ankara. www.politico.eu/article/us-p...

NEW: NATO should redistribute counter-drone equipment, radars and air defense missiles as part of a new 'Black Sea Sentry' to deter Russia, Romanian Defense Minister Radu Miruță told POLITICO. www.politico.eu/article/roma...

NEW: Europe must emerge as a geopolitical power that speaks in a “direct and clear” way to the US, Latvian PM Evika Siliņa told POLITICO. Siliņa said she would support a new European Security Council and was open to Latvia joining talks on a shared nuclear deterrent. www.politico.eu/article/evik...

NEW: More European countries are publicly backing talks on a homegrown nuclear deterrent to complement American atomic weapons following an erosion of trust in a Donald Trump-led U.S. w/ @laukaya.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/euro...

NEW: NATO is beefing up its Arctic presence in a move designed less to deter Russia than Donald Trump. Ahead of today's NATO summit, diplomats & experts said the effort is mostly a rebranding exercise to appease Trump — in response to an exaggerated threat. www.politico.eu/article/nato...

NEW: The U.K. has agreed to spend £150 million to buy U.S. weapons for Ukraine, becoming the latest ally to join NATO’s signature PURL scheme that supplies critical arms to Kyiv. w/ @estwebber.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/uk-j...

NEW: A major pullback of U.S. troops from European soil is unlikely in the near future. Since the start of the year, the U.S. has told allies any withdrawal would be very limited, govt officials from 7 European countries said. w/ @paulmcleary.bsky.social & Jack Detsch pro.politico.eu/news/212852

The U.S. wants to reshuffle commanders of several top NATO command centers, ceding control of 2 while taking over 1. It’s part of a push by Trump to make Europeans shoulder more responsibility as doubts swirl over U.S. commitment to NATO. w/@paulmcleary.bsky.social pro.politico.eu/news/212776

European countries are openly discussing a new form of protection against Russia built around French and British atomic weapons. Some are pushing for more clarity from Europe's nuclear powers, with some whispering about developing their own. w/@laukaya.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/us-d...

Donald Trump’s Greenland gambit pushes Europe to look to its own nuclear arsenals. European nations wanting additional “insurance” against Russia are increasingly looking to France and Britain. With @victorjack.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/us-d...

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will send his deputy to a meeting of NATO defense ministers next month, a decision likely to raise further questions about Washington’s dedication to the transatlantic alliance. w/ @paulmcleary.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/us-d...

NEW: Leaked diplomatic cables expose the reverberations of Trump's threats to seize Greenland as EU officials vented their frustrations this month. We also detail how Mark Rutte helped broker a deal. w/ @nahaltoosi.bsky.social @paulmcleary.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2026/01...

SCOOP: Iceland wanted an apology. Finland was looking for a way out. China was pretty darn happy. U.S. diplomatic cables lay out some behind-the-scenes fallout over Trump's Greenland grab. Do enjoy: www.politico.com/news/2026/01... w/ @paulmcleary.bsky.social & @victorjack.bsky.social

NEW: Mark Rutte helped bring NATO back from the brink on Greenland. But some in Europe are now asking: At what cost? The Greenland standoff “did a lot of damage,” said one NATO diplomat. “We’re an alliance of 32, not a U.S.+31 club.” www.politico.eu/article/mark...

Donald Trump’s unending appetite for seizing Greenland is breathing new life into the idea of Europe setting up a UN-style Security Council. EU officials and even leaders are getting behind the idea, while lawmakers are drafting legal options. www.politico.eu/article/dona...

As Trump threatens to use the military to seize Greenland, European officials and diplomats have started quietly airing a previously unsayable thought: What would it look like to fight back? One potential target: American military bases. www.politico.eu/article/dona...

If Donald Trump uses military force to grab Greenland, Denmark has options beyond NATO. Instead, it could trigger Art 42.7, the EU's common defense pact. But doing so would mean overcoming high legal, political and military hurdles. w/@jacopobarigazzi.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/5-th...

NEW: NATO countries today asked the alliance to strengthen its Arctic flank amid U.S. threats to seize Greenland, NATO diplomats said. Envoys raised better use of intel, shifting assets, more defense spending & military exercises. w/@jacopobarigazzi.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/nato...

As the U.S. continues to browbeat Denmark and Greenland, we looked into the different ways Europe could respond — from bolstering NATO's presence in the Arctic all the way to a tripwire force to raise the cost of U.S. military action. w/ @zoyashef.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/euro...

NEW: Pressure is mounting on NATO countries to spread more evenly the costs of buying desperately needed U.S. weapons for Ukraine, as the alliance looks to restructure its signature scheme. www.politico.eu/article/nato...

NEW: Europe is looking at joint offensive cyber operations and surprise military drills as Moscow steps up its campaign to destabilize NATO allies. w/ @laukaya.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/euro...

Russia has no veto over Kyiv’s bid to join NATO, alliance chief Mark Rutte said on Wednesday — rebuffing a peace deal proposal floated by Moscow and Washington that would block Ukraine from the alliance. www.politico.eu/article/mark...

NEW: Russia is likely to test NATO’s collective defense pledge very soon, Sweden’s top general has said, as Moscow escalates its campaign of hybrid attacks against Europe. w/ @jacopobarigazzi.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/russ...

NEW: Gunvor said it was retracting its offer to buy the international assets of Russia's Lukoil's after the U.S. said it would "never" approve the deal. It slammed the U.S. Treasury as "fundamentally misinformed" for branding it the "Kremlin's puppet." www.politico.eu/article/dona...

NATO chief Mark Rutte today played down a U.S. decision to withdraw hundreds of troops from Romania, just as the alliance grapples with increasing numbers of suspected Russian hybrid attacks. “This happens all the time,” Rutte told POLITICO at a press conference. www.politico.eu/article/nato...

NEW: Bulgaria is exploring requesting an exemption to new U.S. sanctions against Lukoil, according to two people familiar with the matter, as it fears the measures will cause severe fuel shortages and a populist backlash across the country. www.politico.eu/article/bulg...

EU countries are considering postponing imposing higher taxes on gas, electricity and other fuels by an extra year as they seek a deal on the bloc’s revamped energy tax rules. pro.politico.eu/news/207592

NEW: Donald Trump’s surprise move to sanction Russia’s largest oil companies won’t paralyze Russia’s war machine — but it could help the EU quit Moscow’s oil for good. For Lukoil in particular, it will be “catastrophic,” said one former exec. w/@evahartog.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/dona...

NEW: A requirement asking EU countries to track Russian gas cargoes before they enter the bloc will likely remain part of Brussels’ ban on Moscow's imports. Despite pushback from France among others, the final country negotiation document keeps that requirement in place. pro.politico.eu/news/206691

Pressure is growing on NATO countries to join the organisation's arms-buying program for Ukraine, after a majority of allies on Wednesday said they were backing the scheme backed by U.S. President Donald Trump. www.politico.eu/article/pres...

NATO defense ministers meet today, as the alliance strains to protect its skies after recent airspace violations. A key issue to resolve: whether national rules are stopping NATO’s top military officer from effectively tackling these aerial threats. www.politico.eu/article/nato...

EU ambassadors today failed to finalize their position on Brussels’ landmark plan to end imports of Russian gas by the end of 2027 after persisting technical concerns over the text. w/ @gabrielgavin.bsky.social pro.politico.eu/news/206123

The Shadow Fleet shipping Russia's oil is already leaving trails of oil in its wake, raising the question of who will pay up if the worst is to happen. Our latest investigation with @victorjack.bsky.social of @politico.eu, using data from @skytruth.org. www.source-material.org/shadow-fleet...

NEW: Russian-linked vessels are continuing to leak oil off Europe’s shores — despite Western sanctions — underscoring the continent’s inability to rein in Moscow’s so-called shadow fleet. Read our joint investigation with @source-material.org here: www.politico.eu/article/russ...

NEW: The European Parliament will push for an accelerated Russian gas ban by late-2026 and an end to Moscow's oil imports by the end of this year, per a provisional deal by POLITICO. pro.politico.eu/news/205873

What are NATO’s rules of engagement? How can they be changed? Why didnt NATO shot down the Russian warplanes last week? Read our explainer, with @victorjack.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/nato...

pro.politico.eu/news/205440 EU countries are considering easing reporting requirements for tracking Russian gas imports to the bloc as part of Brussels’ mooted supply ban, per a doc obtained by POLITICO.