NATO chief stresses importance of keeping alliance strong through increased defense investment

By Merve Berker

ANKARA (AA) – A strong NATO is in the strategic interest of the US, the alliance chief said on Tuesday, emphasizing the importance of keeping the union strong through increased defense investment.

Jen Stoltenberg is on six-day tour to the US until Thursday to discuss the war in Ukraine, which will soon enter its third year, and western support for Kyiv.

Stoltenberg met speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, as well as House Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries along with other members of the Congress in Washington.

He, according to a NATO statement, commended the US for its support to Ukraine and highlighted that this support remains decisive for Ukraine’s "survival and Europe’s stability."

According to a joint statement after his meeting with Johnson, they also "addressed the importance of sending a clear, decisive message to President Putin that he will not win his war of aggression in Ukraine."

Earlier, the NATO chief met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, as well as National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

Billions of dollars in US aid has been sent to Ukraine since Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine in February 2022, but Republican lawmakers are said to have grown reluctant to keep supporting Kyiv, and have instead demanded major changes in immigration and border control policy in exchange for approving more money.