NATO stresses unity as foreign ministers wrap up summit

NATO foreign ministers ended their two-day meeting in Brussels on Thursday as the alliance marks its 75th anniversary.

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said discussions were underway to secure the long-term viability of the military alliance.

Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock described NATO as a "central anchor of security" in Europe.

Ukraine was also on the agenda, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterating his country's "rock-solid" support for Kyiv. He also expressed support for a pathway for Ukraine to eventually join the bloc.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin said Russia and NATO were now in "direct confrontation" amid a deteriorating security situation.

Here are some of the main developments taking place during the NATO foreign ministers' meeting on Thursday, April 4.

US is stronger with NATO, Stoltenberg tells DW

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has rejected suggestions that some lawmakers in the United States are turning their backs to the miliary alliance.

"The US is stronger with NATO than without NATO. There's a strong bipartisan support for NATO in in the United States," Stoltenberg said in an interview with DW's Alexandra von Nahmen in Brussels.

"And we have to remember that the criticism from former President Donald Trump and also from others in the United States has not been mainly against NATO. It has been against NATO allies not paying enough for NATO."