Washington: US President Donald Trump has expressed his commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and bilateral cooperation with Spain during a telephone call with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.
Trump and Rajoy spoke on Tuesday for about 15 minutes to reaffirm their strong bilateral alliance regarding a series of mutual interests, according to a White House statement.
The statement said both leaders discussed shared priorities on security, economics; Trump emphasised the importance of all NATO allies sharing the burden of defence spending. They also discussed the fight against the terrorist group Islamic State (IS), Efe news reported.
The Spanish government previously reported the content of the call, which began around 3.45 pm in Washington DC. According to Rajoy’s office, the Prime Minister told Trump that Spain was in the best situation to be an interlocutor for the US in Europe, Latin America, North Africa and the Middle East.
When Trump brought up the future of the European Union (EU) in light of Brexit, Rajoy said he was confident of a strong EU integration in the coming months and assured Trump that Spain would work towards that end.
Rajoy and Trump also discussed the upcoming North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit in Brussels in May, which will be their first personal encounter.
IANS