NATO Secretary General meets world leaders in New York

In talks with UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday night, Mr. Stoltenberg underlined that NATO and the UN reinforce each other as organisations committed to upholding the international rules-based order. The two agreed on the potential for more cooperation in the future, including NATO support for UN peace operations and more coordinated defence capacity building efforts for countries at risk of instability.

Meeting with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, the Secretary General underlined NATO’s full support for UN efforts to find a political solution to the crisis in Libya. He further expressed NATO’s preparedness to help Libya build effective security institutions, including a modern Ministry of Defence and effective security and intelligence services under civilian control.

Later on Thursday, the Secretary General met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The two exchanged views on a range of issues, including the situation in Ukraine and military transparency - particularly in light of Russia’s Exercise ZAPAD 2017. The Secretary General stressed that NATO is committed to risk reduction and transparency, including through meetings of the NATO-Russia Council and through the modernisation of the OSCE’s Vienna Document. 

The Vienna Document was also a key topic in the Secretary General’s talks with OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger. The two discussed ideas for modernising this key instrument for military transparency, including with snap observations for snap exercises. Mr. Stoltenberg also expressed NATO’s strong support for the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.

Secretary General Stoltenberg is concluding a four-day visit to the United States. On Tuesday, he participated in the opening of the 72^nd session of the UN General Assembly, and on Wednesday he visited US Central Command (CENTCOM) and Special Operations Command (SOCOM) in Tampa, Florida for talks on stepping up NATO’s role in fighting terrorism.