At a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, U.S. President Joe Biden discussed and approved the alliance's actions in support of Ukraine, as well as cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, the White House said.

“The President welcomed steps NATO Allies are taking to support Ukraine and to deepen partnerships, including in the Indo-Pacific,” a message posted following the meeting reads.

It notes that the parties also discussed "significant progress" in the field of defense spending, including the fact that 23 NATO countries will spend 2% of their GDP on defense, this is “a more than two-fold increase since President Biden took office.”

According to the White House press pool, Stoltenberg noted at a meeting with Biden that defense spending by European member states of the North Atlantic Alliance and Canada will increase by 18% in 2024.

The Secretary General also expressed hope that an agreement on increasing assistance to Kyiv will be reached at the upcoming NATO summit in July.

“I expect that, when we meet here next month, we will agree to have NATO in the lead role in providing security assistance and training and also that Allies will agree to step up financial and military support to Ukraine,” he said, noting that “this will reduce the burden on the United States and strengthen our support to Ukraine.”