NATO to reschedule meeting to accommodate Tillerson

The head of NATO on Wednesday said the alliance will reschedule its upcoming meeting of foreign ministers to accommodate Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the Associated Press reported.

“This has been a scheduling issue and that kind of issue is possible to resolve. So I’m absolutely certain we will be able to find a date that works for everyone so we will have all the ministers present,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

Stoltenberg told the news outlet that he and Tillerson during a Wednesday meeting in Washington decided their staffs would devise a new plan to accommodate all NATO members.

{mosads}A Reuters report earlier in this week said Tillerson would skip the April meeting to stay in the United States for a visit with China’s president, Xi Jinping. Tillerson recently met with his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, during his first trip to East Asia since taking over as the head of the State Department. 

Following the visit from China’s president, Tillerson is supposed to make a trip to Moscow on April 12.

Trump during his presidential campaign criticized the NATO alliance and has called for its members to contribute additional funds to defense spending.