NEWPORT: A two-day NATO summit will begin in the Welsh city of Newport on Thursday and is expected to focus on the conflict in Ukraine and the threat of Islamic extremists in Syria and Iraq.
The US President Barack Obama is one of 67 leaders who will take part in the discussions at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport.
The NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen will chair the meetings during which the leaders will discuss the conflict in Ukraine as well as the rising threat of the militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
The Western military alliance’s planned withdrawal from Afghanistan will also be on the agenda.
The NATO is expected to approve plans for a new rapid reaction force comprised of several thousand troops for Eastern Europe amid tensions with Russia.
