President Obama met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House this week on the 67th anniversary of NATO’s founding to discuss issues such as the campaign against ISIL and NATO support in Afghanistan.
“Terrorism affects us all, from Brussels to San Bernardino, and all NATO allies contribute to the U.S.-led efforts to degrade and destroy ISIL,” Stoltenberg said. “Just last week, we started training Iraqi officers, and we will continue to support the efforts of the United States and other countries to fight ISIL.”
The leaders also spoke about NATO’s ongoing Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan.
“The coalition there continues to focus on assisting the government and the Afghan national security forces, building up capacity, pushing back against the Taliban and helping Afghans to provide security for their own country and, hopefully, being able to arrive at some sort of political settlement that would end decades of conflict and violence there,” Obama said.
Stoltenberg said NATO members plan to honor their vow at NATO’s 2014 summit in Wales that they would increase defense spending.
“We will meet again (in July) in Warsaw at our summit,” Stoltenberg said. “We have a lot to do, but I'm certain that we will deliver because we have seen time and again that North America and Europe (are) able to deliver when we stand together in a strong NATO alliance.”
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