UK PM urges NATO members to beef up defense capabilities

LONDON, Nov 22 (KUNA) -- UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer underscored Friday the importance of the NATO member states' cementing their defense capacities to face the growing collective challenges.
This came in a phone call with the Secretary General of NATO Mark Rutte, according to a statement by the Prime Minister's Office.
Starmer also updated Rutte on the UK government's progress on the strategic defense review and its plan to increase defense appropriations in this spring to 2.5 percent of the GDP.
The two leaders discussed the situation in Ukraine and reiterated the importance of putting the country in the strongest possible position going into the winter. They turned to the recent deployment of DPRK troops to Russia, and both agreed this only served to further underline the indivisibility of Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security. (end) mrn.ibi