NATO foreign ministers convened in Brussels on Wednesday for critical discussions regarding the swiftly evolving conflict between Russia and Ukraine. However, there was a notable absence that caught everyone’s attention.

In an unprecedented move since 1999, the US Secretary of State missed a NATO meeting, leaving allied nations perplexed.

The absentee in question: Marco Rubio.

Amid Europe’s most significant security challenge in decades, Rubio has distanced himself from these crucial negotiations. Instead, he has turned his focus to a different geopolitical hotspot, Venezuela, a country rich in oil and accused of being a major conduit for drug trafficking into the US.

“If your priority is America and ‘America First,’ you begin with your own hemisphere,” Rubio explained to Sean Hannity during a recent interview. He emphasized that issues closer to home are more pressing for Americans than “engaging in wars overseas.”

Some perceived Rubio’s statement as a subtle critique aimed at Donald Trump and the growing cadre of diplomats, both official and unofficial, who are dedicating efforts to mediate with Vladimir Putin.

A State Department spokesman denied the characterization and stated that Rubio was committed to America’s allies in Europe.

‘Secretary Rubio has already attended dozens of meetings with NATO allies and it would be completely impractical to expect him at every meeting,’ he said.

An American diplomat focused on Europe familiar with ongoing conversations at the State Department, told the Daily Mail that Rubio’s fixation on Venezuela is hardly just about policy — it’s about power.

Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, left, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, center, and Jared Kushner attend a meeting with Ukrainian officials Sunday, November 30, in Hallandale Beach, Florida

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, entered an area under control of the US Naval Forces Southern Command, which encompasses Latin America and the Caribbean

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro holds Venezuelan independence hero Simon Bolivar’s ‘Sword of Peru’ during a military ceremony at Fuerte Tiuna, in Caracas on November 25

US Navy shows the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) arriving in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands on December 1

‘Rubio’s top priority is his Latin American agenda – he needs to satisfy his wealthy Venezuelans in Florida who are useful for his political future. He sees Ukraine as a loser topic in the MAGA world,’ the diplomat said.

‘I know Rubio doesn’t trust Putin and knows that Putin is playing Trump. Sitting down with all his European counterparts now would risk putting him publicly crosswise with Witkoff and Kushner.’

Three sources at the State Department tell Daily Mail it is well understood inside the White House that Rubio is among the most pro-Ukraine voices in the administration.

At the same time, they say Rubio holds a dim view of Trump’s personal envoy, real-estate magnate Steve Witkoff.

‘He doesn’t necessarily respect him and how he is going about his negotiations. But he would never say that publicly,’ a second State Department source said.

A spokesman for Rubio vehemently denied that he had an issue with Witkoff.

Tommy Pigott said: ‘This is false and clearly from someone who feels important when they make things up to reporters.

‘Secretary Rubio has repeatedly and often expressed his sincere admiration for the work Special Envoy Witkoff has done, in lockstep with the entire team President Trump has assembled, to advance the cause of peace and President Trump’s America first agenda.’ 

However, insiders say his increasingly frequent presence at the White House, and his relative absence from diplomatic missions traditionally handled by the State Department, is neither accidental nor unnoticed.

Rubio is well known for being a traditionalist and hardliner from Miami’s Cuban exile community – unwavering in his objections to negotiate with Maduro and his narco-terror government.

On his first overseas trip, the ‘America-First’ leader visited Panama and other Central American countries, using diplomacy to press Panama to curb what the US views as excessive Chinese influence over the Panama Canal.

With Venezuela now looming larger than ever, insiders say Rubio’s time at the White House reflects a desire to stay close to the center of national security decision-making. 

Congress is openly questioning the legal basis for the administration’s recent boat strikes, and officials may need to shield the administration from legality concerns, perhaps by adding provisions to the National Defense Authorization Act. 

Against this backdrop, Pentagon lead Pete Hegseth allegedly issued a verbal directive during the first US strike on a suspected drug-smuggling vessel in the Caribbean instructing forces to ‘leave no survivors.’

The White House and Pentagon previously shot this accusation down, calling the article ‘fake news’ and claiming the quotes from the Defense Secretary were ‘fabricated.’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, his wife Jeanette Dousdebes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his wife Sara Netanyahu, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and his wife Janet Huckabee visit the Western Wall Tunnels, in Jerusalem’s Old City, September 14

Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as US President Donald Trump speaks, during a Cabinet Meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on December 2

The White House has used that terrorist designation to defend the strikes and repeatedly backed the decision making behind the military action, saying they are legal, and describing them as ‘self defense’

The press secretary doubled down on this, stating the decision to re-strike a vessel in September was made by Admiral Frank M Bradley, and that Hegseth stood behind his decision.

Last week, Trump spoke with Maduro and told him to step down as soon as possible.

US officials are reportedly considering letting Venezuela’s embattled leader Nicolas Maduro spend his remaining years in comfort in a wealthy foreign country.

A senior Trump administration source told the New York Post that Secretary of State has suggested the idea of Maduro taking refuge in Qatar.

Last month, the Trump administration labeled Maduro and his inner circle as a foreign terrorist organization, a move that broadens Washington’s military options inside Venezuela.

Rubio charged that the notorious Cartel de los Soles, said to be under Maduro’s control, was ‘responsible for terrorist violence.’

The White House has used that terrorist designation to defend the strikes and repeatedly backed the decision making behind the military action, saying they are legal, and describing them as ‘self defense.’

Right now, US leaders across different cabinets are working to look over the information they have gathered and decide what their next moves will be.