WASHINGTON, Afghanistan, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- President Bush and NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer met in the Oval Office Friday for talks on Afghanistan and other NATO matters.
NATO recently expanded its military footprint from northern and parts of western Afghanistan to the troublesome South in an effort to maintain security in the face of increasing attacks by Taliban remnants.
"NATO is delivering security," de Hoop Scheffer said following discussions. "NATO will continue to do this ... because terrorism, proliferation, failed states and failing states are global threats we have to face and to counter on a global scale."
Among other matters discussed were NATO's eastward expansion that involves former Soviet states and former Warsaw Pact allies. Russia, although it signed a partnership agreement with the alliance in 2002 covering certain issues - such as counter-terror and peacekeeping -- has nonetheless made no secret its unease over NATO's links with states along its borders.
Additional details on the talks were not disclosed.
