US Defense Secretary James Mattis and NATO Secretary-General agreed on Thursday to work together to convince member states to commit to fairer burden sharing, Pentagon spokesperson Dana White said in a press release on Friday.
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th September, 2018) US Defense Secretary James Mattis and NATO Secretary-General agreed on Thursday to work together to convince member states to commit to fairer burden sharing, Pentagon spokesperson Dana White said in a press release on Friday.
"The leaders discussed a broad range of defense issues and agreed to work together in consultation with NATO allies on fairer burden sharing," White said.
Both leaders also discussed NATO's readiness and mobility during wide-ranging talks at the Pentagon, White said.
Mattis praised Stoltenberg for continuing to encourage NATO allies to meet their Wales Pledge commitments by 2024 to increase their contributions toward NATO's collective security, White said.
Mattis and Stoltenberg also touched on key outcomes from the NATO Summit in Brussels in July and plans for next month's defense ministerial, White said.
US President Donald Trump has called NATO obsolete, but said after the alliance's summit in Brussels in July that the alliance is becoming strong again because of his efforts to hold member states accountable with respect to their defense spending commitments.
Only five out of 29 NATO members - Estonia, Greece, Latvia, the United Kingdom, and the United States - currently meet their commitment to spend 2 percent of their GDP on defense, according to NATO.
