Plane Carrying Marco Rubio to Germany Returns Due to Mechanical Issue

Photo: AFP

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had to cut his trip short on Thursday due to a mechanical problem with the plane he was flying on. Rubio was traveling to the Munich Security Conference when the plane had an issue, forcing it to turn back and return to Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, D.C.

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According to Tammy Bruce, a State Department spokesperson, the plane experienced a mechanical problem, and as a result, it headed back to Joint Base Andrews. Rubio planned to continue his trip to Germany and the Middle East on a different plane.

Rubio was scheduled to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday alongside US Vice President JD Vance. This meeting was set to follow a phone call between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, where Trump discussed the need for diplomacy to end the ongoing war in Ukraine.

After that, Rubio was set to travel to Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE to discuss a temporary ceasefire in Gaza. He was also going to talk about a controversial proposal by Trump to remove Palestinian residents from Gaza, which has been severely impacted by the ongoing conflict with Israel.

Mechanical issues like this one are not uncommon, as the US government has an aging fleet of aircraft used for important international trips.