Donald Trump to attend Nato summit

The White House confirmed Tuesday that President Donald Trump will join fellow Nato leaders for a key May summit in Brussels, as the US administration seeks to quash questions about Trump's support for the alliance.

The Trump administration has been scrambling to reaffirm its commitment to Washington's military alliances -- including Nato -- after the Republican billionaire called into question their usefulness during the presidential race.

News that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would skip a Nato meeting in April -- but travel to Russia the same month -- did little to allay concerns.

By confirming Trump's participation in the May 25 summit, the US administration -- the leading partner in the North Atlantic alliance -- moved to reset the narrative.

"The president looks forward to meeting with his Nato counterparts to reaffirm our strong commitment to Nato, and to discuss issues critical to the alliance, especially allied responsibility-sharing and Nato's role in the fight against terrorism," said a White House statement.

The White House said the April 12 meeting would be a chance for Trump and Stoltenberg to "talk about how to strengthen the alliance to cope with challenges to national and international security."

The summit itself, NATO said, would focus on "the alliance's role in the fight against terrorism, and the importance of increased defense spending and fairer burden-sharing" -- language that appeared to acknowledge Trump's repeated complaint that US allies are not paying their way.

But regardless of Trump's attendance at the May summit, his top diplomat's absence from its foreign ministers' meeting on April 5 and 6 will be noted with concern, especially by newer East European members on its exposed east flank.

Under Obama, the US worked with Nato to shore up support for the pro-western government in Kiev after Russia's annexation of Crimea and its support for a bloody uprising in eastern Ukraine.