On June 2, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to discuss the upcoming NATO summit that is scheduled for June 29-30 in Madrid.
“I met with NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg today to discuss the upcoming Madrid Summit,” Biden tweeted. “The U.S. and our Allies will strengthen NATO’s deterrence and defense and tackle new challenges, from cyber to climate change.”
During the meeting, Biden, Harris and Stoltenberg discussed a variety of topics that included implications of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, a release from the White House said. They also discussed security, defense and deterrence in the Transatlantic. Other topics included cybersecurity, climate change and various other security concerns of NATO allies.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan also met with Stoltenberg during the visit.
Biden expressed his strong support for the secretary general’s efforts to “facilitate a rapid accession process that addresses the security concerns of all Allies.”
Stoltenberg spoke out against Russian aggression in a press meeting that followed the visit, saying that “President Putin wanted less NATO and therefore he invaded Ukraine, but he is getting more NATO, with more NATO presence in the eastern part of the Alliance and also with more members,” a news release on the NATO website said.