US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has sought to reassure a nervous Europe, saying that the United States wanted to "revitalise" the transatlantic alliance so that a strong Europe could help the US on its mission of global "renewal".
Mr Rubio struck a markedly reassuring tone as he addressed the Munich Security Conference after months of turmoil in US-European relations sparked by US President Donald Trump's vows to seize Greenland and his often derisive remarks about the US's allies.
"We do not seek to separate, but to revitalise an old friendship and renew the greatest civilisation in human history," Mr Rubio said. "What we want is a reinvigorated alliance."
"We want Europe to be strong. We believe that Europe must survive," Mr Rubio said, adding that the continent and the US "belong together."
The United States will be "driven by a vision of a future as proud, as sovereign, and as vital as our civilisation's past," he said.
"And while we are prepared, if necessary, to do this alone, it is our preference and it is our hope to do this together with you, our friends here in Europe," he said.
Mr Rubio's speech marked a sharp contrast to that of US Vice President JD Vance a year ago, when he used the same stage to attack European policies on immigration and free speech, shocking European allies.
He reiterated the Trump administration's stance that immigration is "destabilising societies" but otherwise largely avoided the MAGA flashpoint and culture war issues that, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said yesterday, had deepened a "rift" between US and Europe.
Mr Rubio also hit out at a "dangerous delusion" that every country has followed the international rules-based order and freed trade since the end of the Cold War, and criticised the "overused" phrase "the end of history".
"This was a foolish idea that ignored both human nature and it ignored the lessons of over 5,000 years of recorded human history, and it has cost us dearly," he said.
Mr Rubio acknowledged that "we made these mistakes together, and now together, we owe it to our people to face those facts and to move forward to rebuild".
"Under President Trump, the United States of America will once again take on the task of renewal and restoration, driven by a vision of a future as proud, as sovereign and as vital as our civilization's past.
"And while we are prepared, if necessary, to do this alone, it is our preference, and it is our hope to do this together with you, our friends here in Europe," Mr Rubio added.
He said the United Nations had played "virtually no role" in resolving conflicts and called for global institutions to be reformed.
"The United Nations still has tremendous potential to be a tool for good in the world," he told the Munich Security Conference.
"But we cannot ignore that, today, on the most pressing matters before us, it has no answers and has played virtually no role. It could not solve the war in Gaza," he said.
European leaders at the conference have pledged to shoulder more of the burden of shared NATO defences, saying this was essential for Europe to counter a hostile Russia.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the gathering that "Europe needs to step up and has to take on its responsibility" for its security and called for closer ties with Britain, saying "ten years on from Brexit our futures are as bound as ever."
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: "We must build our hard power, because that is the currency of the age."
"We must be able to deter aggression and, yes, if necessary, we must be ready to fight," he said calling for a building of "a shared industrial base across Europe which can turbocharge our defence production".
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Yesterday, NATO chief Mark Rutte said that "a strong Europe in a strong NATO means that the transatlantic bond will be stronger than ever" and French President Emmanuel Macron said that "this is the right time for a strong Europe," that would be "building its own architecture of security".
The high-powered Munich meeting of government leaders, diplomats, defence and intelligence chiefs comes shortly before Russia's full-scale war on Ukraine is set to enter its fifth gruelling year.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has been in Munich since yesterday and meeting multiple allies, is expected to address the meeting today. No Russian officials have been invited.
At the White House last night, Mr Trump urged him to "get moving" to end the war.
"Russia wants to make a deal... He has to move," he said.
But Mr Rubio said that "We don't know if the Russians are serious about ending the war."
President Macron said a new framework was needed to deal with "an aggressive Russia" once the fighting in Ukraine ends.
And Mr Merz said that "If it makes sense to talk, we are willing to talk," but charged that "Russia is not yet willing to talk seriously".
Rubio is due to travel tomorrow to Slovakia and Hungary, European countries run by nationalist leaders endorsed by Mr Trump.
