Montenegrin President Jakov Milatović announced today that he and US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau agreed that NATO should be stronger through additional defense spending by all countries.
The Public Relations Office of the President of Montenegro announced that Milatović is in the United States (USA) at the invitation of the head of the American delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and Congressman Mike Turner, and that he met with Landau on that occasion.
"I just had a meeting with the Deputy Secretary of State of the United States of America, the second man in American state diplomacy, Mr. Christopher Landau. I can freely say that the meeting was extraordinary, we discussed numerous topics," Milatović emphasized.
He added that this was also Montenegro's first meeting with a senior American official from the new administration of US President Donald Trump.
"That's why it was extremely important, and I'm glad it went well. There were numerous topics, we agreed that Montenegro and America need to strengthen bilateral cooperation. We agreed that two key areas where modalities for improving cooperation need to be found are defense and cooperation in the field of economy and investment," said Milatović.
He said that the upcoming NATO summit was also a topic.
"We discussed the upcoming NATO summit in The Hague, where we agreed that NATO should be stronger through additional defense spending by all countries, and certainly that in these spending efforts, a way should be found to further strengthen cooperation between Montenegro and America," said Milatović.
The statement states that the two officials also discussed ways and modalities for improving economic cooperation between Montenegro and the USA.
"It is growing year after year, trade exchange is increasing, American investments in our economy are also increasing year after year, but there are certainly certain modalities that need to be found in the coming period, through more intensive discussions and meetings, so that economic cooperation can truly reach its full potential," said Milatović.
He emphasized that Montenegro is an ally and friendly country of America.
"Once again, I emphasized our historic friendship, this year we celebrate 120 years of our diplomatic relations, an important anniversary that we will mark later this year in the US capital. We also discussed numerous global challenges. I once again said that Montenegro welcomes all the efforts of the US administration when it comes to finding lasting peace in Ukraine, I also welcomed the efforts when it comes to numerous other conflicts around the world. Montenegro is a friend and reliable partner of the United States of America and that is an important message that I sent to the new US administration," said Milatović.
The statement also states that as part of his visit to the US, Milatović will meet with congressmen, as well as give an address at an event dedicated to marking the 30th anniversary of the Dayton Peace Agreement.
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