US President Donald Trump would travel to Brussels on May 25
On his
first foreign trip to attend a meeting with leaders from the North
Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) countries, the White House said
today.
"The President looks forward to meeting with his NATO counterparts to
reaffirm our strong commitment to NATO, and to discuss issues critical
to the alliance, especially allied responsibility-sharing and NATO s
role in the fight against terrorism," the White House said in a
statement.
Trump's trip to Brussels, Belgium for the MATO Summit would be his first
overseas visit after he was sworn in as the 45th President of the
United States on January 20.
He has also committed himself to travel to Germany later this summer to
attend the G-20 Summit which among others would be attended by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi.
Modi has been invited by Trump for a White House meeting this year. Modi
has also extended Trump an invitation to visit India.
Both have
accepted the invitations and dates are being worked out. In case of no
additional travel, the G-20 Summit could be the earliest opportunity for
a Modi-Trump meeting.
Trump's first visit to a NATO summit is considered as significant given
that traditionally the new US President s overseas travel has been to a neighbouring country.
"In addition to the President's participation in the NATO Leaders
Meeting, the President will also welcome Secretary General (Jens)
Stoltenberg to the White House on April 12, 2017, where they will talk
about how to strengthen the alliance to cope with challenges to national
and international security," the White House Press Secretary Sean
Spicer said.
Meanwhile, Defense Secretary James Mattis met Stoltenberg at the
Pentagon today wherein they discussed the fight against ISIS and the
situation in Afghanistan among other things.
"We all understand that in times of turmoil, in times of uncertainty,
the need for strong international institutions like NATO is even greater
so therefore we need to adapt, we need to strengthen NATO in response
to the challenges and the unpredictability we see surrounding us today,"
Stoltenberg said in a joint media appearance with Mattis at the
Pentagon.
A strong NATO is good for Europe, he said.
"We are also grateful for commitment of the US and the security
guarantees to Europe. But strong NATO is also good for North America
because stability in Europe is good for all of us. Two world wars and
the Cold War have taught us all that the peace and stability is
important for Europe of course but also North America," he said.
Mattis said he looks forward to engaging with the coalition members who
are here in Washington this week on the counter-ISIS fight. "I am
confident that NATO will as always be one of the leaders as we deal with
this threat," he said.
World leaders have gathered in Washington to attend the US lead international meeting of anti-ISIS coalition.
Read more for HNI Stock Tips - http://bit.ly/ace_services
No comments:
Post a Comment