WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and US President-elect Donald Trump discussed the importance of the alliance and its defense spending, Stoltenberg said in a statement on Friday.
Good talk with US President-elect @realDonaldTrump. We both underlined the enduring importance of #NATO and increased defence spending.
— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) 18 ноября 2016 г.
17 November 2016, 01:15 GMT
Trump repeatedly said during his presidential campaign that Washington should review its relationships with NATO allies, which he insisted should pay more of the cost for having their security guaranteed by the United States.
Earlier on Friday, Stoltenberg said he expected European NATO members and Canada to increase defense spending to 3 percent. Currently, only five NATO members, the United States, Greece, Estonia, Poland and the United Kingdom, spend the required 2 percent of their GDP on defense.
