Donald Trump reportedly thanks Romania for B9 Summit invite, may send Marco Rubio instead
United States president Donald Trump reportedly responded to the invitation to participate in the B9 Summit in Bucharest on May 13 through diplomatic channels. Trump thanked Romania, but said he cannot be present in person at the meeting, diplomatic sources told Digi24.ro.
Talks are ongoing to secure the participation of American officials at the event, according to the same source.
Instead of the US president, secretary of state Marco Rubio may attend the summit held in Bucharest. Rubio is the head of US diplomacy, and his presence would confirm the high-level status of the event. Another possibility is that Rubio may attend the event remotely.
Major EU leaders have already confirmed their attendance at the event. French president Emmanuel Macron, for example, will be in Bucharest for the B9 Summit, according to official sources cited by TVRInfo.
On December 9, 2025, Romanian president Nicușor Dan announced that Macron confirmed he will make a visit to Romania in 2026. “I invited president Macron, and he confirmed a visit to Romania during 2026,” Nicușor Dan stated at a press conference at the Romanian Embassy in Paris.
Since 2025, the Nordic countries have also joined the high-level meetings in this format. In 2025, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy was also present. The NATO Secretary General also participated in the meeting.
The “Bucharest Nine” (B9) initiative is a platform of political and economic cooperation between nine NATO countries for strengthening Euro-Atlantic security on the eastern flank. The format was established at the initiative of the former president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, and the president of Poland, Andrzej Duda, in 2015, and the first meeting took place in Bucharest.
The format was created as a response to Russia’s aggressive stance, especially after the annexation of the Crimean peninsula and the conduct of military operations in Donbas in 2014. Its main theme is support for Ukraine and the strengthening of the NATO eastern bloc.
All countries in the alliance (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia) either were part of the former Soviet Union (USSR) or were within its sphere of influence.
(Photo source: Muhammad Abdullah|Dreamstime.com)
