KABUL - US President Joe Biden and other leaders of NATO member countries will discuss Afghanistan and the alliance tense ties with Russia and China during a 30-nation military alliance summit in Belgium on June 14.
“This is a unique opportunity to reinforce NATO as the enduring embodiment of the bond between Europe and North America,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday in a statement.
Stoltenberg said the meeting will focus on the security “challenges of today and tomorrow. Russia’s aggressive actions, the threat of terrorism, cyber-attacks, emerging and disruptive technologies, the security impact of climate change, and the rise of China.”
The meeting will take place as NATO-led troops leave Afghanistan, the alliance’s biggest and most challenging operation ever, with the aim of being gone by Sept. 11 at the latest.
NATO allies activated the organization’s collective defense clause for the first and only time after the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington in 2001 to rally to the defense of the United States. (Pajhwok)