Get Breaking National And World News, Broadcast Video Coverage, And Exclusive Interviews. Find The Top News Online, More Video Channel, Live Radio Station and Top Movies at Only NEWSALLABC. CLICK HERE ⇒ https://newsallabc.blogspot.it ⇐ FOR MORE UPDATES.
British Prime Minister Theresa May says US President Donald Trump has reaffirmed both countries' "unshakable commitment" to NATO, after concerns the mutual admiration between Mr Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin could see it weaken.During Mr Trump's first meeting with a foreign leader at the White House, the President also said he wanted to have a "fantastic relationship" with Russia and declined to say whether he was ready to lift sanctions on Moscow.
In a news conference after the talks, Ms May said she and Mr Trump had recognised NATO as the bulwark of their collective defence.
Mr Trump had earlier suggested that NATO was "obsolete", and that the US might not come to the aid of countries that do not meet targets for their own defence spending.
"We've reaffirmed our unshakeable commitment to this alliance, Mr President I think you confirmed that you're 100 per cent behind NATO," Ms May said.
"I've agreed to continue my efforts to encourage my fellow European leaders to deliver on their commitments to spend two per cent of their GDP on defence.
"It's only by investing properly in our defence, that we can ensure that we're properly equipped to face our shared challenges together."The pair also discussed sanctions on Moscow, which the visiting British Prime Minister said must stay in place.
Any move by the White House to lift sanctions against Russia for its actions in Ukraine would likely cause consternation among European allies of the US who believe sanctions should be lifted only if Moscow complies with the West's conditions on Ukraine.
Ms May said she believed sanctions against Russia should stay in place until Moscow fulfilled its obligations under the Minsk agreement.Mr Putin and Mr Trump are likely to discuss the sanctions when the two leaders speak by telephone on Saturday (local time), a senior White House aide said.
Ms May thanked Mr Trump for inviting her to visit so soon after his inauguration, and said their meeting was an indication of the strength and the importance of maintaining good relations between the trans-Atlantic allies.
She said there was "much on which we agree".
"Today's talks, I think, are a significant moment for President Trump and I to build our relationship," Ms May said.
Trump to defer decisions on waterboarding
Mr Trump also played down reports he would reintroduce torture, saying he would defer to Defence Secretary James Mattis regarding the use of waterboarding as an intelligence-gathering tool.Mr Trump said Mr Mattis does not "necessarily believe" in waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques, which many politicians and other rights groups denounce as torture.
"I don't necessarily agree, but I would tell you that he will override because I'm giving him that power," Mr Trump said of Mr Mattis.
"I happen to feel that it does work. I've been open about that for a long period of time. But I am going with our leaders."
The Trump-May meeting came after a "friendly" phone call between Mr Trump and Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto.
The two men spoke for about an hour, a day after Mr Pena Nieto scrapped a planned meeting in Washington next week over Mr Trump's instance that Mexico pay for a multi-billion-dollar border wall.
No comments:
Post a Comment