Foreign Ministers Meet In Washington To Mark NATO's 70th Anniversary

NATO foreign ministers pose for a family photo at a reception to celebrate NATO's 70th anniversary in Washington on April 3.

Foreign ministers from NATO's 29 member countries are meeting for a second day in Washington to mark the alliance's 70th anniversary and discuss security threats, including Russia and Afghanistan.

The foreign ministers were scheduled on April 4 to hold a series of meetings at the headquarters of the U.S. State Department, with the first session focusing on Russia.

The ministers were expected to endorse a set of measures aimed at improving NATO's defenses in the Black Sea region.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was scheduled to attend the sessions and host a working lunch with the visiting ministers. He planned to hold a press conference later in the day.

Washington says the agenda also includes briefing on the situation in Afghanistan, the demise of an arms-control treaty signed by the United States and the Soviet Union in the last years of the Cold War, and NATO-member Turkey's purchase of a Russian surface-to-air missile system.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said on April 4 that the two-day gathering in Washington shows that NATO "has no intention of abandoning plans to step up military and political confrontation with Russia."

Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and Interfax