Biden to Join NATO Leaders at Summit   04/22 06:00

   U.S. President Joe Biden and other leaders of NATO member countries plan to 
discuss tense ties with Russia and China, the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan 
and the future of the 30-nation military alliance at a summit in Belgium on 
June 14.

   BRUSSELS (AP) -- U.S. President Joe Biden and other leaders of NATO member 
countries plan to discuss tense ties with Russia and China, the troop 
withdrawal from Afghanistan and the future of the 30-nation military alliance 
at a summit in Belgium on June 14.

   The meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels will be a face-to-face 
opportunity for Biden to rebuild relations with leaders from Europe and Canada 
that became strained under former President Donald Trump.

   "This is a unique opportunity to reinforce NATO as the enduring embodiment 
of the bond between Europe and North America," NATO Secretary General Jens 
Stoltenberg said Thursday in a statement.

   Stoltenberg said the meeting will focus on the security "challenges of today 
and tomorrow: Russia's aggressive actions, the threat of terrorism, 
cyber-attacks, emerging and disruptive technologies, the security impact of 
climate change, and the rise of China."

   The meeting will take place as NATO-led troops leave Afghanistan, the 
alliance's biggest and most challenging operation ever, with the aim of being 
gone by Sept. 11 at the latest. NATO allies activated the organization's 
collective defense clause for the first and only time after the 9/11 attacks on 
New York and Washington in 2001 to rally to the defense of the United States.