Tillerson will attend NATO’s rescheduled meeting

NATO has rescheduled its upcoming foreign-ministers meeting to accommodate Secretary of State Rex Tillerson after Tillerson said he was unable to attend on the original April 5 date.

The State Department said Friday the secretary would stop in Brussels on March 31, the day after he meets with Turkish leaders in Ankara. A NATO official said that “consultations on scheduling” among the alliance’s 27 other members for that date “are ongoing” but that an announcement was expected Monday.

Reports this week that Tillerson had decided to skip the twice-yearly gathering of ministers brought sharp criticism from lawmakers and foreign policy experts who saw it as unwise from a security standpoint and as a sign of disrespect for the United States’ closest allies.