Heads of states and military leaders have gathered to observe the 70th anniversary of the formation of the North Atlantic Alliance.
The leaders of the NATO member states are expected to adopt a final communique at the end of the summit that will reflect the bloc’s position on the key issues of the regional and international agenda.
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NATO members have delivered on plans to increase the readiness of land, sea and air forces available to the alliance, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Wednesday at the NATO Leaders Meeting in London, stressing that the organisation remained committed to preserving peace.
"Our task is not to wage war but our task is to prevent war. Not to provoke a conflict but prevent a conflict," Stoltenberg said in response to a journalist’s question.
"I find him to be a very nice guy but you know the truth is that I called him out over the fact that he's not paying 2% and I can see he's not very happy about it....He's not paying 2% and he should be paying 2%," Trump said. "Canada - they have money. Look, I'm representing the U.S. and he should be paying more than he's paying, he understands it ... I can imagine he's not that happy but that's the way it is."
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – President Donald Trump on Wednesday said all topics were on the table when he held an unscheduled meeting with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier in the day on the sidelines of the NATO summit in London.
"I discussed everything. We discussed a lot," Trump said. "It was a very good meeting, I think. We discussed Syria. We discussed the Kurds. We discussed numerous things, and we're getting along very well."
Trump said Turkey has succeeded in creating an effective safe zone separating US-backed Kurdish forces from Turkish troops and proxy militias, with a cease-fire that continues to hold.
“We discussed Syria, we discussed the Kurds. The border and the safe zone is working out very well, and I give a lot of credit to Turkey for that,” Trump said of his meeting with Erdogan. “The ceasefire is holding very much.”
The White House said in a readout of the meeting that the two leaders also discussed "the importance of Turkey fulfilling its alliance commitments" and efforts to boost bilateral trade by $100 billion.
Regional security challenges and energy security were also among the topics that the two discussed, the readout added.
Turkey invaded part of Syria in October that was controlled by US-backed Kurdish forces following a decision by Trump to withdraw American forces.
Trump ordered the unilateral US pullout without first informing NATO allies, with the exception of Turkey, which responded to the withdrawal with an invasion.
....When today’s meetings are over, I will be heading back to Washington. We won’t be doing a press conference at the close of NATO because we did so many over the past two days. Safe travels to all!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 4, 2019
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - NATO remains open for dialogue and constructive relations with Russia when Moscow's actions "make that possible," a declaration issued on Wednesday at the NATO summit in London read.
"We remain open for dialogue, and to a constructive relationship with Russia when Russia’s actions make that possible," the declaration read.
With that, the declaration stresses that the alliance is determined to remain nuclear as long as nuclear weapons exist and to protect its interests with an appropriate mix of nuclear, conventional, and missile defence capabilities.
"We are addressing and will continue to address in a measured and responsible way Russia’s deployment of new intermediate-range missiles, which brought about the demise of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and which pose significant risks to Euro-Atlantic security," the declaration said.
According to the NATO chief, the bloc's leaders agreed that China must be involved in future arms control treaties.
Turkey has agreed to endorse a plan to ramp up the defences of the Baltic states and Poland against Russia, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday.
He added that NATO leaders did not discuss the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia viewed by Ankara as a terrorist organisation.
An unnamed Turkish source earlier claimed that Turkey was not trying to "blackmail" NATO members to lend support to Ankara’s operation against Syrian Kurds by skewing the vote on a defence plan for the Baltics and Poland.
Cumhurbaşkanımız @RTErdogan ABD Başkanı @realDonaldTrump ile NATO Zirvesi marjında son derece verimli bir görüşme gerçekleştirdi. pic.twitter.com/fhSnibLefe
— Fahrettin Altun (@fahrettinaltun) December 4, 2019
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - United States President Donald Trump has met with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the second day of the NATO Summit in the United Kingdom, communications officers from both sides confirmed Wednesday.
At the same time, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley confirmed to New York Times that the the two met but gave no details as to the nature of the meeting.
The meeting between Trump and Erdogan has been among the most highly anticipated within the NATO summit underway in the UK as the two have had a turbulent relationship over their respective presidencies.
The White House has said more details will be released soon regarding the substance of the meeting.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The European Union must develop its own security capabilities as NATO is "not present" on some issues, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday.
"NATO is the strongest defence alliance in the world. However, I am convinced that there are areas, there are topics where NATO is not present. And the EU has to be in the position to take action," von der Leyen told a press conference. "So I do think we need to press on with our work on the European Union of security and defence. I believe that whenever there's a crisis and the EU agrees to act it has to give itself the means and the procedures to take action," she added.
