Macron says talks with Trump 'fruitful' despite defense spat
PARIS - French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday hailed his three-hour talk with visiting US President Donald Trump as "fruitful", despite their brief spat on Europe-US defense cooperation.
"We have decided, President Trump and I, to work together for the stability of the Middle East, which will have a positive impact on the price of oil," Macron said on his Twitter account, noting that their closed-door conversation focused on issues of counterterrorism, European defense, Iran, Syria, the Gulf region and Libya, among others.
Earlier on Saturday, Macron received Trump at the Elysee Palace. In his opening remarks, Macron told reporters that he shares "Trump's view that we need a better budget within NATO... because it means more Europe and more capacity within NATO, in order to keep ourselves secure".
Responding to a spat between him and Trump over his proposal for a "real European army", Macron insisted that his proposal "is truly consistent with" Trump's demand for European NATO members to raise their defense budget.
Following his arrival in Paris, Trump had slammed Macron's suggestion of the European army as "very insulting".
"Perhaps Europe should first pay its fair share of NATO, which the US subsidizes greatly!" he tweeted.
While, trying to defuse the episode, Macron recalled "the tremendous solidarity" linking the "oldest allies" in his opening remarks.
'It should be fair'
For Trump, security cooperation between his country and Europe should be more equal. He told reporters in the Elysee Palace that the United States wants a secure Europe and wants to help, "but it should be fair".
The US can only do so much, said Trump, adding that "different countries also have to help".
Trump has been frequently critical of European nations for failing to meet the official annual military spending target of 2 percent of gross domestic product set by NATO.
According to NATO figures, only five of 29 allies, namely Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Britain and the US, met their military spending targets this year.
In July this year, Macron said that a NATO summit statement had confirmed the goal of 2 percent by 2024.
Xinhua
(China Daily 11/12/2018 page12)
