"Merkel told Pence and other world leaders, diplomats and defense officials at the Munich Security Conference that "acting together strengthens everyone. "Pence sought immediately to address concerns raised by President Donald Trump 's comments questioning whether NATO was "obsolete. "Pence told the group: "I bring you this assurance: The United States of America strongly supports NATO and will be unwavering in our commitment to our trans-Atlantic alliance. "Merkel reiterated that Germany is committed to the official NATO goal of putting 2 percent of gross domestic product into defense spending _ Germany currently contributes 1.3 percent. "Stoltenberg told the gathering that NATO and the EU defense initiatives complement one another.

Source: Times of India February 18, 2017 17:15 UTC