US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has spoken of a defining moment and a new era as he travels to Europe for a major speech to the Munich Security Conference.
Rubio will lead the US delegation at the first major global event since President Donald Trump threatened Danish sovereignty with a pledge to annex Greenland.
French President Emmanuel Macron has insisted Europe must prepare for independence from the US, while NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has stressed that transatlantic bonds are as close and important as ever.
The war in Ukraine, tensions with China, and a potential nuclear deal between Iran and the US are also on the agenda as the security conference gets underway.
The world is changing very fast right in front of us, Rubio told reporters. We live in a new era in geopolitics, and it's going to require all of us to sort of re-examine what that looks like and what our role is going to be.
This year's conference is expected to focus on defining European defense and the future of the transatlantic relationships at a time when US commitments to NATO have been questioned. In recent months, tensions have heightened as Trump has repeated that Greenland is vital to US national security.
As the conference begins, leaders are keen to navigate these changing dynamics, with an open letter from former US ambassadors to NATO urging the maintenance of support for the Western defensive alliance. The conference, attended by around 50 world leaders, aims to redefine the coopetition in a rapidly evolving global landscape.
