Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday called on NATO countries to pony up more resources to fight the Islamic State, during the first day of a two-day NATO meeting in Brussels, Belgium.
Kerry met privately with several foreign counterparts, including Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni. Although couched in diplomatic terms, it was clear from a State Department release after the meeting that Kerry is telling world leaders that the U.S. shouldn’t have such a heavy lift in leading the 65-nation coalition fighting Islamic State, or Daesh, as Kerry refers to the Sunni terrorist group.
“They also discussed coalition efforts against Daesh, including Italy’s strong contributions,” State Department spokesman John Kirby stated. “The secretary made clear he was urging all allies to increase their contributions.”
Before the summit opened, a State Department official reportedly told some reporters that Kerry would “make the case that we need even more; and he’ll obviously update folks on what the U.S. is doing militarily and on his strong efforts through the Vienna process to bring together a political process and a political settlement.”
Without naming names, the official said NATO countries could do more to help given that the U.S. handles the lion’s share of bombing.
Kerry sent Canada the same message, according to Kirby, in light of new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s commitment to pull the few some of his jets out of Syrian and Iraqi skies.
Kerry discussed with Foreign Minister Stéphane Dion “ways in which all member nations can increase their efforts,” Kirby stated.
Trudeau recently appeared in the Philippines with President Obama during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting and pledged to help the coalition in other ways now that Canada would not be participating directly in the bombing campaign.
“We talked about terrorism and security issues off the top and how Canada is committed to continuing to engage as a strong member of the coalition against ISIL in ways that will continue to support international efforts, including the military engagement or training, to ensure that Canada continues to be a strong player, doing its part — and more than its part — to defend against ISIL,” Trudeau said on Nov. 19.
In his discussion with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Kerry underscored Obama’s comments to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan earlier Tuesday that Ankara and Moscow need to work out their differences over Turkey’s downing of a Russian fighter jet last week to avoid splintering international efforts to counter the Islamic State , Kirby said.
Cavusoglu briefed Kerry on “Turkish outreach to Russia, which the secretary encouraged,” Kirby stated.
In a press conference after the NATO meeting of foreign ministers, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reinforced the right of Turkey, a NATO member, to defend its airspace, but also encouraged the two countries to not let the matter spiral out of control.
“Calm and de-escalation is now of the essence,” he said. “And I encourage direct dialogue between Moscow and Ankara.”
NATO convened as the 28-nation defense alliance faces pressure from the Islamic State’s spread into Libya, and its successful efforts to send terrorists back into Europe to launch attacks, such as the deadly coordinated assaults in Paris on Nov. 13.
“We don’t have the luxury of either being focused or addressing the challenges to the east or the challenges to the south, we have to do both at the same time,” Stoltenberg said, according to the Washington Post.
As NATO is under pressure from the south and the east, Stoltenberg said the organization is acting along three lines.
“First, ensuring our collective defense; second, helping to manage existing crises; and third, working with partners to help to stabilize the region,” he said. “Today, we have given strategic guidance to our military commanders along all three lines.”
“With regard to collective defense, we are enhancing the readiness and responsiveness of our forces to deal with threats from the south, as well as the east,” he added.
