He head of US diplomacy, Marco Rubiotook advantage of the speech of the annual balance of the North American government to criticize the Spanish government for not increasing defense spending and its increasing rapprochement with the Chinese government. He did so in response to questions asked by journalists.
“We have had no indication from any country that it is not going to do so” He pointed out in reference to the request to increase the amount of defense, before introducing a qualification that resonated strongly, “with the exception of Spain.”
Rubio insisted that increasing military spending is not an ideological demand from Washington, but a matter of “self-interest” for Europewhich cannot depend indefinitely on the United States.
With the Trump Administration involved in several open frontssuch as the war in Ukraine, burden sharing in NATO and Chinese influence in Europe, Rubio took advantage of the situation to toughen his speech when addressing the issue of his main geopolitical rival.
He warned that The entry of cheap Chinese technology and products is weakening the European industrial base and generating national security risks, especially in strategic sectors and infrastructures. The message was aimed at governments seeking to strengthen ties with Beijing.
Pedro Sánchez recently traveled to China, where he met with Xi Jinping and advocated strengthening economic and technological cooperation in the midst of a trade war with the United States. Washington reacted harshly: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent even stated in April that “Getting closer to China is like cutting your own throat”. Rubio’s intervention thus adds to months of bilateral friction over defense, foreign policy and strategic security.
The Ukraine question
Rubio started from a clear premise: the United States is today the only actor with the real capacity to speak with kyiv and Moscow at the same time. “If the United States were not involved, no one would be talking to both sides”he stated, ruling out both the UN and Europe as effective mediators.
In this context, he defended the direct involvement of Donald Trump for one fundamental reason: the human and economic cost of the conflict. War, he said, is “bloody, brutal and devastating”and its prolongation multiplies the losses every week. Even so, he highlighted a clear limit: “Peace cannot be imposed on anyone” and “there is no possible agreement without Ukraine and without Russia.”
