“What I know is that allies are working together discussing how to do that,” he told reporters during a visit to a NATO military exercise in Norway. “What is the best way to do it? They are working on that collectively to find a way forward.”
The remarks underscore the high-wire act facing Rutte as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran drags into its third week. The secretary-general wants to placate Trump — a longtime NATO skeptic — while avoiding a full embrace of a war which is out-of-area for NATO and has been widely criticized by other allies.
Yet the latest comments also mark a change in tack from Rutte, after countries like Spain hit out at the alliance boss for his claim earlier this month that the war enjoyed “widespread support” from NATO allies. The former Dutch prime minister on Wednesday avoided praising the war effort, and did not allude to European support for the conflict.
The U.S. has so far not issued specific requests for help from NATO, but individual allies like Estonia have offered to send equipment and vessels to help keep the Strait of Hormuz open after Iran effectively shut off shipping in the chokepoint through which around a fifth of the world’s oil passes.