Queen Elizabeth II receives President Biden 4:05
Brussels (CNN) -
US President Joe Biden arrived at his first in-person summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Monday, vowing to reaffirm the United States' commitment to a military alliance that his predecessor regarded with disdain.
“I want to make it clear: NATO is vitally important to the interests of the United States and itself.
If there wasn't one, we would have to invent it, ”he said shortly after arriving during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens.
Stoltenberg.
"I just want all of Europe to know that the United States is there."
ANALYSIS |
Biden is about to face two relentless forces that could seriously hamper his presidency.
The NATO summit comes as Biden seeks to reassert American leadership on the world stage and strengthen global partnerships during his first international trip as president.
He arrived in Brussels, Belgium, after several meetings with US allies and the annual summit of the Group of Seven in Cornwall, England, where a major theme was the return of the United States to the world stage.
As in those meetings, Biden is expected to urge Western allies to better align themselves against China and Russia, his administration's top foreign policy concerns.
"I think there is a growing recognition in the last two years that we have new challenges, and we have Russia that is not acting in a way that is consistent with what we expected, as well as China," Biden said at the start of the summit.
And it will place more emphasis than ever on cyber threats, including allowing NATO members to invoke the collective defense provision of Article 5 in the event of a cyberattack.
His National Security adviser said Sunday that a final statement would say that a member state could request technical or intelligence support from other members in the event of an attack.
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NATO
