Americas might aided by strong NATO partnership, Stoltenberg says on anniversary – National [Video]

NATO foreign ministers celebrated the 75th anniversary of their alliance on Thursday with flags, cake and marching bands, while its secretary general reminded the United States that it needed its allies more than ever as the Ukraine war enters its third year.

The alliance’s 32 member states agreed on Wednesday to start planning for a greater role in coordinating military aid to Ukraine to help it battle Russia in Europe’s biggest conflict since World War Two and show its unity as Ukraine awaits a package worth some $60 billion that remains stalled in the U.S. Congress.

On the second day of a meeting in Brussels, the ministers marked the signing in Washington on April 4, 1949, of the North Atlantic Treaty that established the transatlantic political and military alliance.

“Europe needs North America for its security,” Stoltenberg said at a ceremony at NATO’s headquarters in Brussels.

“At the same time, North …