US President Joe Biden meets NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg ahead of Brussels summit 

US President Joe Biden met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to discuss the June 14 summit in Brussels and expressed his strong commitment to working closely with allies, the White House has said.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 European and North American countries. Its fundamental goal is to safeguard the allies' freedom and security by political and military means.

A meeting of NATO Heads of State and Government will be held on June 14 in Brussels at NATO headquarters. The meeting will be chaired by Stoltenberg.

Biden, during his meeting with Stoltenberg, expressed his strong commitment to working closely with allies to build on NATO's seven decades of success safeguarding transatlantic security and democratic values, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.

"The two leaders agreed on the importance of the NATO 2030 initiative to adapt the Alliance to meet the challenges of strategic competition and transnational threats, including climate change and cyberattacks.They also reviewed Allies' progress over the last seven years in boosting defence spending and other contributions to our common defence, underscoring the importance of sharing responsibility equitably within NATO and ensuring NATO is adequately resourced to address the threat environment," Psaki said.

In addition, they discussed NATO's two decades of investment in Afghanistan and continued support for diplomatic peace efforts, she said.

Following the meeting, Stoltenberg told reporters that he discussed with Biden a wide range of issues including Russia and China, global terrorism, cyber threats and also the security consequences of climate change.

"But we spent most of the time on preparing the upcoming NATO summit in Brussels next week where we will agree, forward looking, ambitious agenda on how to further strengthen our alliance. And I thanked the President for his powerful commitment to the transatlantic bond, to Article Five, and his personal leadership on all these issues," he said.

The two, Stoltenberg said, agreed that in a more competitive world, they need to strengthen NATO."We face security challenges which no ally can face alone. So therefore, we need to stand together in NATO. The NATO 2030 agenda, which NATO leaders will agree when we meet in Brussels at the NATO summit next week, is an ambitious agenda, and this is about strengthening our collective defence. It's about strengthening our resilience. It's about sharpening our technological edge. And it is also about working more closely with like-minded partners," Stoltenberg said.

(With inputs from agencies)