NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says he has had a positive talk with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on the future of the Western military alliance.
"Good talk with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. We both underlined the enduring importance of NATO and increased defense spending," Stoltenberg tweeted on November 18.
A NATO statement said Stoltenberg spoke by phone with Trump, congratulating him on his election victory and looking forward to working with his national security team.
The statement said Stoltenberg thanked Trump for "raising the issue of defense spending during the campaign, which has been a top priority for the secretary-general since his appointment in 2014."
"The two leaders agreed that progress has been made on fairer burden-sharing but that there is more to do," it added.
Trump caused consternation among NATO allies in Europe during the election campaign when he suggested Washington might think twice about coming to the rescue of an ally under threat if it had not paid its NATO dues.