NATO chief welcomes Donald Trump and Putin meeting

Brussels : NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday said that he welcomed the US and Russia leaders' meeting next month when he arrived to attend the EU summit in Brussels.

Stoltenberg said, "I welcome the upcoming meeting between President Trump and President Putin, because I believe in a sign of dialogue."

Reaffirming NATO's policy to have talks with Russia, he said, "We don't want a new Cold War. We don't want to isolate Russia. We want to strive for a better relationship."

NATO pursues a dual-track approach towards Russia, which is about having strong defense and deterrence, combined with political dialogue to prevent a deterioration in relations, Xinhua reported.

As regards the two-day EU summit, Stoltenberg said he will be discussing NATO-EU cooperation with European leaders, adding that both organizations are working together on migration, tackling the root causes and helping to stabilize the neighborhood, including by training local forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump will hold a summit in Finland's capital of Helsinki on July 16, the Kremlin said on Thursday.