NATO faces 21st century ills, Obama says

WASHINGTON, March 25 (UPI) -- NATO faces challenges requiring the trans-Atlantic alliance to shift from the 20th century to the 21st century, U.S. President Barack Obama said Wednesday.

Terrorism, failed states, nuclear proliferation are among the "whole host of new challenges" confronting NATO, as well as its traditional role in "preserving the territorial integrity of NATO members," Obama said during a media availability after meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer at the White House.

As the administration reviews the U.S. strategy for Afghanistan, it is consulting with NATO and "we believe that we are going to be able to ensure that the NATO members who ... have been working so hard already are reinvigorated, and the coordination that's going to be taking place will make it even more effective for us as we complete a successful NATO mission," Obama said.

Afghanistan still poses a challenge, the secretary-general said.

Many things are going right, but many things are not going right," De Hoop Scheffer said, adding that the alliance was awaiting the results of the U.S. strategy review.

The two also discussed the role that NATO plays concerning and how "my administration is seeking a re-set of the relationship with Russia."

Obama said U.S.-Russia relations must be in a manner "consistent with NATO membership and consistent with the need to send a clear signal throughout Europe that we are going to continue to abide by the central belief that countries who seek and aspire to join NATO are able to join NATO."

While the alliance and Russia have areas of disagreement, "NATO needs Russia and Russia needs NATO," the NATO secretary-general said.