of NATO, Secretary General Stoltenberg.  We are marking the 67th anniversary of the

NATO alliance, and NATO continues to be the lynchpin, the cornerstone of our collective

defense and U.S. security policy.

     We had an excellent meeting that started with marking the tragedy that had taken place

in Brussels, and reinforcing the importance of us staying focused on ISIL and countering

the terrorism that has seeped up into Europe and around the world.

And we agreed that one of the most important functions that NATO is performing and can

continue to perform is to help in the training and assisting process for troops in Iraq,

in Jordan, in many of the areas in the region.  And we are continuing to cooperate on an ongoing

basis about operations potentially in areas like Libya, where you have the beginnings

of a government and we can I think provide enormous help in helping to stabilize those

countries.

     We also discussed generally what's been happening in the Southern Flank of NATO. 

Traditionally, a lot of focus has been on the East, but we recognize that there are

a broad set of challenges that have to be addressed all around the world.  And NATO

is going to be working with the European Union, for example, to help prevent the tragedy that

we saw last summer of migrants taking very dangerous trips across waters to try to reach

Europe. In cooperation with Turkey, Greece, and other countries, it's important for us

to do that in a way that is humane and thoughtful, even as we're also working together to try

to bring an end to the Syrian conflict.

     We had an excellent conversation about Afghanistan, in which NATO obviously has been

an extraordinary partner with the United States.  The coalition there continues to focus on

assisting the government and the Afghan national security forces, building up capacity, pushing

back against the Taliban, and helping Afghans to provide security for their own country

and, hopefully, being able to arrive at some sort of political settlement that would end

decades of conflict and violence there.  And we are grateful for the sacrifices that

NATO countries have made -- their men and women fought alongside U.S. troops.  They

have fought together and they have died together.

     And in the Warsaw Summit that is coming up, we expect to be able to follow through

on the pledges that we've made to continue to support the Afghan people in those efforts.

     And we discussed the eastern side of the equation.  We continue to be united

in supporting Ukraine in the wake of Russian incursions into Ukrainian territory.  We

continue to work in a train-and-assist fashion in helping support Ukraine develop its military

capabilities defensively.  We continue to provide reassurance to the frontline states

there, our NATO allies, to make sure that they have not just reassurance of words, but

that we have actually deployed concrete assets that let them know that Article 5 means something,

and that we stand by our commitments to our allies.  And I have in my budget put forward

a quadrupling of the resources that we spend, and allocated a portion of that money to make

sure that we've got ground brigades that send a clear message about our commitments to our

NATO allies to the east.

     That does not mean that we are not continuing to work with Russia to try to find

resolution to the problems in Ukraine.  We think it is important to maintain a dialogue,

and NATO has continued to consult with Russia and, in very transparent fashion, indicate

the firmness of our resolve to protect our values and our allies, but also our interest

in being able to reduce tensions and the dangers of potential escalation.

     So I just want to state how effective I think Secretary General Stoltenberg has

been in managing a whole range of challenges.  This is obviously a tumultuous time in the

world.  Europe is a focal point of a lot of these stresses and strains in the global

security system.  We are lucky to have a strong NATO Secretary General and a strong

team that is such an excellent partner with us.

And it is because of the strength of NATO and the Transatlantic partnership, this Transatlantic

Alliance, that I'm confident that, despite these choppy waters, we will be able to continue

to underscore and underwrite the peace and security and prosperity that has been the

hallmark of the Transatlantic relationship for so many decades.

Thank you so much, Mr. President.  It's always an honor to be here, and especially on a day

like this, because as you said, today is the anniversary of our Alliance -- NATO was founded

in this very city.

     And that NATO is as important as ever, because NATO has been able to adapt to a more

dangerous world -- not least because of your personal commitment and your personal leadership,

and we're really grateful for that.

We stand together in the fight against terrorism.  Terrorism affects us all, from Brussels to

San Bernardino, and all NATO allies contribute to the U.S.-led efforts to degrade and destroy

ISIL.  And just last week, we started training Iraqi officers, and we will continue to support

the efforts of the United States and other countries to fight ISIL.

     We also discussed how NATO can increase our support to other countries in the region

and ensure and enable them to stabilize their own countries and to fight ISIL, and therefore

different ways of building local capacity is high on our agenda in NATO.

We welcome the progress we have seen in Libya when it comes to establishing government or

national accord, and NATO stands ready to provide support to the new government in Libya.

     We also addressed the migrant and the refugee crisis in Europe.  NATO assists

-- helped the European Union, Turkey, Greece to handle the situation in the Aegean Sea,

and NATO has deployed ships in the Aegean Sea.

     Afghanistan is high on our agenda.  Afghanistan is our biggest military operation

ever.  And it shows the importance of unity in North America and Europe, because our military

operation in Afghanistan is a direct response to the terrorist attack against the United

States on 9/11.  And European, Canadian soldiers have fought together with the American soldiers

in Afghanistan for many, many years.

     We are also responding to a more assertive Russia, responsible for aggressive actions

in Ukraine.  And I very much welcome, again, the leadership that you have shown in increasing

our collective defense in Europe with the European Reassurance Initiative, which is,

as you've proposed, going to be quadrupled in the budget you have proposed for the Congress.

This is really a strong example of the Transatlantic bond, how the United States is important for

the security of Europe and also over European allies -- or the European allies are also

stepping up, so together, we are now implementing the biggest reinforcement through our collective

defense since the end of the Cold War.

     I will work together with all the NATO allies to make sure that they make good

on the pledge they made together to increase defense spending.  And this is about that

we have to invest more in our security when tensions increases, and therefore we have

to make sure that we do what we promised, and that is to invest more in defense in the

following years.

     We will meet again in Warsaw at our summit.  We have a lot to do, but I'm certain

that we will deliver because we have seen time and again that North America and Europe

is able to deliver when we stand together in a strong NATO alliance.

     So thank you once again for having me here.  Thank you.