NATO chief talks defence with Italian prime minister in Rome

NATO's top official Mark Rutte met with Meloni following a trip to Germany. At the top of the agenda: the war in Ukraine.

Transcript

00:00NATO Chief Mark Rütte visited Italy on Tuesday where he met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgio

00:08Meloni to discuss defence and support for Ukraine.

00:14Since taking over as NATO Secretary General, Rütte has sought to shore up Western support

00:19for war-ravaged Ukraine and encourage member states to boost defence spending.

00:28On Ukraine, we are establishing a new command, NATO Security Assistance and Training for

00:34Ukraine, which will become fully operational in the coming months.

00:39And we are well on our way to fulfilling our pledge to provide Ukraine with 40 billion

00:44euros of military support in 2024.

00:49We will continue to stand by Ukraine, because Ukraine's fight is our fight.

00:56Meloni echoed Rütte's comments, calling for greater European involvement in NATO.

01:01We have always supported the need for a solid European pillar at the NATO's North American

01:09pillar.

01:10It is a vision that we share with the new Secretary General and we share the fact that

01:17it is essential for all of us to work in a European defence industry that is innovative,

01:23that is competitive, that exploits the complementarity between NATO and the European Union.

01:29A day prior, Rütte also met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, discussing the involvement of

01:35the US in the alliance in the event of Donald Trump's victory in the upcoming presidential

01:39election.