All right. is that everybody? OK. Uh, well, welcome, everybody. We're of course pleased to be joined by the delegation from NATO, especially Secretary General Rutte. Thank you for -- for being here. Uh, this is actually our second meeting. The first right before the inauguration and uh, the second now here at the Munich Security Conference.
Of course, we're going to talk about NATO and particularly the president's desire to see NATO spend a little bit more resources on defense. And I know that's something Secretary General Rutte agrees with me on. Uh, we're going to talk of course about the Ukraine-Russia conflict and how to bring it to a negotiated settlement.
And I'm sure we'll talk about some other areas of cooperation, too. I mean, my -- my high-level argument to -- to -- to these folks is, look, Europe is, of course, a very important ally in the United States. NATO is a very important military alliance of course that we're the most significant part of, but we want to make sure that NATO is actually built for the future.
And we think a big part of that is ensuring that NATO does a little bit more, uh, burden sharing in Europe so that the United States can focus on some of our challenges in East Asia. So, we'll have a good conversation. We have great people here, and we're thrilled to have them.
Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Vice President, and it's a pleasure to see you again. And I want to thank you for the American people for everything you are doing to keep the whole world safe basically. And I know there are many theaters in the world who really have to take your attention, so I do understand the issue of burden sharing.
That is crucial. I also want to thank you personally for everything you have done over the years in engaging with Europe. It has been noted [Inaudible] before, and it is really important, and I look forward also from that perspective to our talks and on Europe stepping up -- the European part of NATO stepping up. You are absolutely right.
It has to be done. We have to grow up in that sense and spend much more. We have to also have to discuss the defense industrial base for this is where we have both in the US and in the rest of NATO. We are simply not producing enough. We are not keeping up with the Russians and the Chinese and then of course Ukraine.
How to bring Ukraine to a lasting peace and no [Inaudible] again. So, it has to be lasting, but we should never try it again and how to get them into a place of maximum strength when the talk starts. So, lots of discussion and looking forward also to build relationship.
Perfect. Likewise. Good to see you. Thank you. All right. Thank you, all. Good to see you guys.
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Should Europe be involved with these talks between Russia and Ukraine?
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