"We are all concerned about the situation in the eastern Mediterranean. And I welcome your efforts to find the constructive way forward. I am in constant contact with Greece and Turkey. My message is that the situation must be resolved in a spirit of allied solidarity and in line with international law", Stoltenberg said after Merkel commented on Germany's work to de-escalate the tensions between NATO allies in the region.
Regarding Belarus, which saw a wave of protests after the presidential election on 9 August, Stoltenberg said that NATO was following the events there "closely" and referred to it as "crisis unfolding on our border".
"NATO has no military buildup in the region, so any attempt to use that as an excuse to crack down on peaceful protesters is absolutely unjustified", Stoltenberg added.
In addition to these two topics, the German chancellor said she was looking forward to a discussion on Afghanistan as well.